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OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 



BY 



IRENE SIMMONDS 






7lR!ST0P)(EI^ 

PUBUSHING 
HOUSE 

BOSTON 



.S4 



Copyright igij 
By Irene Simmonds 



V 



m 14 1918 



©CI.A479967 




FOEEWOED 

The author has given, in this book, a de- 
lightful account of personal experiences, 
in a day by day diary of travel through 
countries that will, alas, never again be 
seen in their old-time quiet setting. "Our 
Trip to Europe" is one of the many books 
that will be of increasing interest as time 
passes, on account of its description of 
places and peoples wholly changed by the 
ravages of the present war. It is only in 
such books of travel, written before the ter- 
rible destruction of the past three years, 
that will be preserved to the future a record 
of the quaint and distinctive charm of many 
old-world towns. 



^^OUE TRIP TO EUROPE'' 

Ireland 

June 9tli^ 1909. My husband and I drove 
to the Dartmouth train and although it was 
very early in the morning, it did not prevent 
a large number of friends being there to see 
us off. 

We went to Boston by way of Yarmouth 
and sailed from East Boston in the steamer 
Saxonia of the Cunard line for Queenstown, 
Ireland. We had a very fine stateroom, 
with a large closet for our clothes, a table, 
large sofa, two large windows, and very nice 
beds. The dining room was spacious, reach- 
ing from side to side of the ship. 

The tables were elegant with glass, silver, 
and costly flowers, such as roses, carnations, 
orchids, etc. The weather was beautifully 
fine and warm. June 20th we attended 
Divine Service at half past ten on the main 
deck, which was beautifully decorated with 
flags. 

The text was : "I go to prepare a place for 
you,'' and was listened to with close atten- 
tion. The first hymn was : "All people that 
on earth do dwell," second, "The Church's 
one foundation." 

June 23. We landed at Queenstown, ten 



6 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

o'clock in the evening, put up at the Queen 
Hotel. After breakfast next morning we 
drove around the town in an Irish jaunting 
car, a two wheeled vehicle with the seats 
side ways, back to back; they are delight- 
ful to drive in. The to\^ai is built on a 
steep hill, and the streets are terraced; some 
of the streets have a high wall on either 
side. The walls were covered with lovely 
soft ivy. There were some beautiful hedges, 
one in particular was of lovely Fuchsia. I 
have seen hedges of many kinds of flowers 
but I think that one was the finest of all. 
We went in some of the shops and bought 
some curios. Then we went to the esplanade 
and sat for a while under the lovely shade 
trees, and soon it was time to take the train 
for Cork. About an hour by train, and we 
arrived in that city, and went to the Impe- 
rial Hotel, a very fine one, and right in the 
lieart of the city. This city, like Queens- 
toAvn, is built on the side of a range of hills, 
and the situation is exceedingly beautiful. 

In the afternoon we hired a jaunting car 
and drove to Blarney Castle, a distance of 
eight or nine miles — such a lovely drive 
through the most beautiful country I had 
ever seen; no unsightly fences, just walls, 
built so evenly and of splendid masonry 
work. These walls were around all the 
farms, and on both sides of the road, as far 
as the eye could see. Some of the walls 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 7 

looked like hedges they were so covered with 
ivy. We saw some trees which our driver 
called flowering willow, they were rather 
large trees, and were covered with long 
tassel-like flowers of a bright yellow color, 
which could be seen quite a distance and 
are a fine sight. 

All along the road sides there are thou- 
sands of little pink and white daisies, which 
we would love to have in our gardens. Fox 
glove and heliotrope grow anywhere by the 
road side. When we arrived at the Castle 
there was quite a number of visitors, so we 
all went up in the tow^er, one hundred and 
twenty steps to the top. Blarney Castle 
was built in the 15th century by Cormac 
McCarthy. It was besieged and taken by 
the forces of Cromwell. Very little more 
than the tower remains now; a stone in 
the Castle wall near the top, has long been 
endowed by tradition with the power of con- 
ferring on those who kiss it, a sweet persua- 
sive eloquence, irresistible. It is built in 
a dangerous part of the battlement and only 
the most daring can reach it. 

As w^e returned to our hotel we stopped 
at the Church of St. Ann's, and hunting up 
the caretaker for a fee, we heard the beauti- 
ful bells of Shandon play some lovely hymn 
tunes, and ending with "Plome, Sweet 
Home," which made me think of those we 



8 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

left at home. St. Aim's was built in 1722, 
so it is a very old diurcli. 

Friday 25tlL. We came to Killarney and 
put up at the Lake Hotel, on the shore of the 
upper lake. We passed many little thatch- 
ed cottages on our way; they were very 
small, seemed to have only one room, per- 
haps two. We passed by some peat bogs, 
where men were cutting peat in shape of 
bricks. They stack them up for two or 
three weeks to dry, then with a donkey and 
cart they take them to market and sell them 
for a penny a dozen, not much money for so 
much work. 

June 26th. We have met a great many 
English and American tourists at the Hotel. 
Last week there was a very sad accident on 
the lake. Near our hotel a boat upset and 
nine people were drowned, only two or three 
bodies were recovered, the others were never 
seen again. 

This morning we hired a boat and two 
men to row us over the lakes. We left the 
hotel at nine o'clock, and went across the 
upper lake to Queen's Cottage on Dinish 
Island. We went ashore for a while : it was 
a beautiful place, the cottage being a very 
pretty one. It was built for Queen Victoria 
to lodge in when she visited the Killarney 
lakes. It was covered with climbing roses 
of many hues and would have delighted the 
heart of flower lovers. The lawn around 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 9 

the house was just lovely with beds of bright 
flowers, and such beautiful trees, with their 
long branches touching the ground, and all 
through the grass we could see the shamrock 
growing, which is so dear to the Irish heart. 
In the cottage an Irish lady had some pretty 
trinkets for sale, most of them made of bog 
oak. We bought some of them and some 
post cards. 

After walking around the grounds we 
went to our boat, which the boatmen had 
taken a short distance down the stream, 
which runs from the upper lake to the 
middle lake. The waters from the upper 
lake flow through a narrow channel here 
and meet the waters of the middle and lower 
lakes. This is called, the meeting of the 
waters, made famous by the Irish poet 
Moore. 

The middle lake is very serpentine and in 
some places very narrow, indeed. The oars 
of the boat reached nearly from side to side, 
part of the way. The day was very fine and 
the water smooth as glass, the mountains 
along the sides of the lake were grand, and 
seemed to nearly reach the sky, and were 
reflected with all their beautiful colors in 
the water. We saw some pretty red deer 
feeding in a meadow quite near the shore. 
They did not seem the least afraid of us, 
just gave us a passing glance and went on 
feeding. 



10 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

The boatmen showed us a large rock on 
either side of the boat in a narrow place, 
where two giants — a man and his wife — 
jumped across, from one side to the other, 
and left the print of their feet in the rock. 
The marks looked as if the rock had been 
soft when they jumped across, and they sanl^ 
down quite a way too. I couldn't help say- 
ing that I thought some cunning hand had 
chiseled them out, but the men laughingly 
declared that they would lose their job if 
they told lies; but it seems to be part of 
their training to fib, if by so doing they 
amuse visitors. After rowing for five miles, 
they landed us in a lovely spot to have lunch, 
which they had brought from the Hotel, 
and which tasted good after our long row in 
the fresh air. We did not return by the 
boat but came back over the mountains. 
H^eav where we landed there was a pretty 
little cottage, where they sold pretty trifies. 
After buying some we began our journey 
back, which was fifteen miles. They say an 
Irish mile is a mile and a bit, which I quite 
believed before I got back to the hotel. The 
first five miles we had to ride on horse back, 
as the road was quite narrow and rough. 
At first we had to go up the steep side of a 
mountain and doA\Ti the other side just as 
steep. I thought that I must slip off over 
the horse's tail, and next that I would cer- 
tainly go over his head, but after leaning 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 11 

first forward and then backward I managed 
to keep in the saddle. We had two men with 
us to take the horses back. They were very 
amusing, they showed us the lake where 
St. Patrick threw in the last snake, and they 
have never had any since. I wished that he 
had banished the flies as well. Here and 
there along the road side women were sit- 
ting with baskets of lace and other stuff 
for sale. It seemed a very slow sale; an 
old ragged man came out of a hut holding 
out his hand for a penny. The guide said 
that he was more than a hundred years old. 
I could not help wondering what a dismal 
life it must be away up there in the mount- 
ain with no other habitation in sight. An- 
other man away up in the mountain blew a 
bugle so we could hear the echo, which was 
very line indeed. Still another man fired a 
gTin, which sounded like a clap of thunder 
and echoed from peak to peak. Of course 
all these kind people had to get sixpence 
each for their trouble. Coming down the 
mountain we came to Kate Kearney's cot- 
tage. As our trip through the Gap of Dunloe 
was ended, we paid off our guides and their 
horses. After buying some pretty things in 
the cottage we hired a fine jaunting car and 
drove back to the Lake Hotel, a distance of 
nine or ten miles. The roads in Ireland are 
so good it is a pleasure to drive on them. 
The next day we went to Muckross Abbey. 



12 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

It is for tlie most part in ruins, still, it was 
grand. All the lower floors are filled up 
with tombs and the walls are covered with 
ivy. We saw many old places such as Mc- 
Cartie More's old fortress, the Abbey 
Church in which are many tombs of noted 
Irish families. 

June 27. We left Killarney and came to 
Dublin. In the afternoon we went in a 
street car around part of the city, about 
four miles, through some beautiful streets, 
and had glimpses of lovely gardens and 
elegant trees. 

The street cars are quite different from 
those in American cities. They are two 
storied, some have open tops, and some have 
glass all around. They have a stairway to 
go up to the top part, on the outside. 

June 28th. In the morning we went to 
Phoenix Park, saw where lord Cavendish 
and Mr. Burke were murdered: a round 
piece of marble is set in the spot where it 
happened. We also went to Glasnevin 
Cemetery and saw the massive monument 
of Daniel O'Connell, and other great men. 
We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral. It 
stands on the site of a church built by St. 
Patrick himself. The present building, we 
were told, was begun in 1190, but was nearly 
destroyed by fire in 1362. In recent years 
the church has been restored by Guinness, 
the Dublin brewer who spent $140,000 on the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 13 

work. We saw there the tombs of Dean 
Swift and his Stella. 

After leaving the Cathedral, we went to 
Dublin Castle and were taken through some 
of the splendid rooms and Portrait Gallery. 
Quite near our hotel on Sackville street we 
saw the Xelson Monument, 121 feet high. 
From the top we had a fine view of the city. 

We spent a few days in Dublin then went 
on to Belfast, a large and beautiful city. 
We hired a jaunting car and drove over to 
the ship yards where we saw twenty or more 
large steel steamers in course of construc- 
tion, besides other small ones. Belfast must 
have great wealth, to carry on so colossal a 
business. (I wonder if we shall ever see 
steel ship building in Halifax.) After 
seeing the ship yards, we drove over the 
Queen's bridge to the Albert Memorial 
Monument, the City Hall, and other beauti- 
ful buildings. 

I enjoyed going in the stores and seeing 
real Irish lace, made on the premises. We 
bought some beautiful lace handkerchiefs, 
and some fine linen ones. I bought some 
elegant towels. I wanted to buy heaps of 
them, they looked so nice. 

After a few days delightfully spent in 
Belfast we went by train to Port Kush, 
from there by electric car to Giant's Cause- 
way, which is a very wonderful collection of 
stones. They are best seen from the water 



14 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

side as they reacli down to tlie shore. I 
should say there were several acres of them, 
so evenly set together, that they look as if 
they must have been placed there, and 
nearly all the same size, most of them are 
flat, some seem to be eight sided, and all 
look as if they had been cut by man, but we 
were told they were just as Mature made 
them. Near the shore they seem to be four 
or five feet high; away back they must be 
at least fifty or more. There is one mass 
called the Organ, looks just like a huge pipe 
organ. Another one is called the Loom. 
They are a wonderful sight. The electric 
car took us quite near the Causeway. Then 
we went to a nice hotel, left our traps and 
hired a boat and man to row us around the 
Causewa}^ and into Dunkerry Cave, which 
was quite near. I think the Cave might 
have been something like three hundred 
3^ards long and not more than thirty wide at 
its entrance. It got narrower as we ad- 
vanced, the roof was very high, and was 
arched just like a church. The stone on 
the sides and roof was of many colors, 
beautiful to see. The water was light green 
and looked like silk. After we were quite 
a Avhile on the water we went back to the 
hotel and had dinner. It tasted good, for 
the sea air gave us a keen appetite. After 
dinner we went back to Belfast, stayed all 
night and left for Glasgow in the morning. 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 15 

We felt sorry to leave Ireland so soon for 
tliere is mucli to see there, but our time was 
limited. 

Scotland 

We were about two bours crossing tbe 
Irish Channel to Stranraer. There was a 
large number of passengers on the steamer, 
the day was fine and the water very smooth, 
so we enjoyed the trip very much. On land- 
ing we took a train for Glasgow, we went to 
the station Hotel St. Enoch, a very swell 
place. We had a beautiful room, elegant 
furniture upholstered in plush, beautiful 
mirrors and the softest carpets, but best of 
all we had letters from home. I was feeling 
so anxious to hear how they were at home, 
so we were both comforted and could enjoy 
sightseeing so much better. 

July 3rd. Today we went through Glas- 
gow Cathedral. We fortunately met a City 
Official who took us through and pointed out 
the interesting places. If we had been 
alone we w^ould have missed a great deal. 
In the afternoon we went to see some of the 
stores. They are large, but they cannot 
come up to the London stores, neither in 
size nor display. It seemed so queer to see 
girls wheel hand carts around the streets 
with strawberries, heaped on them, like 
potatoes, and nearly as large. I never saw 
such large ones before. 



16 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

Sunday July 4tli. Went to morning serv- 
ice in Glasgow's famous cathedral. The 
text preached from was Daniel 10th Chap. 
7th verse, "and I Daniel alone saw the 
vision; the men that were with me saw not 
the vision.'- The preacher went on to say 
and point out how some see, and others pass 
on and see not ; which I have often noticed 
in my travels. 

The Glasgow Cathedral was built in the 
12th century. All the windows are filled 
with beautiful stained glass. The crypt is 
one of the finest in the world. 

George's Square is well worthy of a visit. 
There are many statues of great men to be 
seen there. There were two equestrian 
statues that I admired. Queen Victoria and 
Prince Albert. The West-end Park and 
Botanic Gardens are delightful. I could 
have spent da^^s in the Museum, there were 
so many interesting things to see. 

One afternoon we went down the Clyde, 
in a fine large steamer called Lord of the 
Isles, to Greenock. We were very much 
interested in the many beautiful places we 
saw, especially Dumbarton Kock, where 
Mary, Queen of Scots, spent part of her life. 
A good deal of the Castle walls are still 
standing. 

When we landed at Greenock, we went 
to call on Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson (friends 
of ours ) . We found them at home, and they 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 17 

gave us a hearty Scotch welcome. We did 
not intend to stay, but they not only made 
us stay to tea, but all night as well. They 
took us away up on the heights, to a beauti- 
ful place where we had a splendid view of 
the hills, as far away as Loch Lomond. 
The scenery was just grand. The hills were 
covered with heather and were lovely to see. 

Next morning we said goodbye to our kind 
friends and went back to Glasgow by train. 
We then hired a carriage and guide, and 
visited places of interest. The City Hall 
is magnificent, the stairways and railings 
and pillars are Italian marble. The build- 
ing cost three million dollars. 

July 6th. We went to Ayr, in the morn- 
ing by early train. We arrived there at 
eleven o'clock. We went to an hotel and 
had dinner. Then our guide brought a car- 
riage and took us to Burn's cottage, about 
two miles distant. The cottage is a long 
loAv building, of two rooms, the living room 
and kitchen. The bed was in a recess built 
in the wall, by the chimney. The floors and 
walls were of stone, the roof thatched with 
straw. The table that Bobbie Burns wrote 
his poems on is still there ; a spinning wheel 
on which his mother spun yarn is standing 
by. A grandfather's clock is in one corner, 
and some very ancient blue dishes and other 
stuff on the old dresser. At one end of the 
house, under the same roof, is the place 



18 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

where they used to keep the cows. I picked 
some flowers in the garden, and after we had 
bought some post cards we got in our car- 
riage and were driven to Kirl^ Alloway, 
made famous by Burn's Tam O'Shanter. 
The church is in ruins, the roof has fallen in. 

The little cemetery is nicely kept. There 
is an old man at the gate to show the visitors 
around. He tells some exciting stories 
about the church in the olden times. After 
seeing the church and the Burns Monument, 
we walked down by the banks of bonny 
Doon. A beautiful arched stone bridge, 
with stone railing, spans the Doon. I could 
have spent hours on it looking down into the 
clear water, and I thought of the song which 
we all know so well, (Ye banks and braes 
o' bonny Doon. ) It seemed so strange to be 
really standing on that bridge over the 
famous Doon. 

While Ave stood there an old man came 
along with a violin and played some lovely 
Scotch airs, so sweetly that my eyes filled 
with tears. I will never forget that bridge 
with the splendid trees shading it, and the 
flowers along the banks of the stream. We 
stayed as long as we possibly could, then 
hurried to catch the train for Glasgow. 

Next morning we arose at six o'clock, and 
had breakfast. We then went to the dock 
and went on board the steamer Lord of the 
Isles, and went dowTi the Clyde, past Green- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 19 

ock and many other pretty towns, down to 
Inverary Castle, the seat of the Duke of Ar- 
gyle. We left the steamer and drove about 
half a mile to see the castle. It is a stately 
building in a beautiful and extensive park, 
with magnificent trees. In the park we 
saw a herd of shaggy Highland cattle. Their 
horns were wonderfully large and from tip 
to tip must have been quite a yard. After we 
had seen all the sights, we Avent back to the 
steamer and were landed at a place called 
Strachur, where we went in a coach to Loch 
Eckhead, then again by steamer through the 
Loch, about seven miles, with the beautiful 
mountains on each side reaching down to 
the water, their slopes dotted with thou- 
sands of sheep. How we did enjoy every 
step of the way ! 

Then again we landed and took a coach 
for Dunoon. These coaches have six 
seats, each seat holds five persons. The 
body of these coaches are away up above the 
Avheels. We had to climb a high ladder to 
get into them, but by being high up we could 
see over the high stone walls which shut in 
the most lovely gardens of the elegant 
houses we passed. We drove about ten 
miles by the sea shore and through groves of 
beautiful fancy trees and shrubs. We were 
charmed with our drive, and were sorry 
when it was over, but we had to take again 
the steamer for Glasgow. As we landed, we 



20 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

saw a Piper, dressed in highland costume, 
lie was playing lovely scotch airs on his 
pipes. I am very fond of bagpipe music and 
could have listened for hours. 

July 9th. This morning we arose at six 
o'clock, had breakfast and started for Loch 
Lomond. We went by train to the lake, 
then went on board of a bonny little steam- 
er. There was quite a number of tourists on 
board, and we met some very nice people. 

The day was rather misty in the morning, 
a scotch mist, you know, but by noon it had 
cleared away, and Loch Lomond was just 
as bonny as the song says it is. At noon we 
arrived at Inversnaid. There we found 
great coaches waiting for passengers. We 
were driven to Stronachlacher, where we 
took another dainty little steamer on Loch 
Katrine, passing Ellen's Isle, the Silver 
Strand, and other places mentioned in the 
Lady of the Lake, Loch Katrine is not very 
large, only about nine miles in length. The 
pretty little boat seemed to fly over the 
smooth water. The mists had cleared away, 
and we enjoyed the view of the lofty mount- 
ains on either side, with hundreds of sheep 
feeding on their rugged sides. Afar up in 
one of the mountains we saw a herd of red 
deer. 

I must tell what the coaches we travelled 
by looked like. Each would hold twenty 
people, the back seats sloped up from the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 21 

front so those in the rear could see over the 
heads of those in front. The body of the 
coach was above the wheels and we had to 
climb up a ladder to get in. All the luggage 
was put underneath the floor, on another 
floor. These coaches were drawn by four 
great horses, fat and sleek. 

The road, after we left Ellen's Isle, was 
up fearfully steep hills. I wondered how it 
would be possible for those horses to draw 
so heavy a load up. It was a very hard and 
long pull, but they seemed to think it 
nothing unusual, and pulled beautifully. 
Then we had to go down hills, just as steep. 
I sat in a front seat, and I really felt dizzy. 
I thought surely I should fall over the dash- 
board on to the horses' backs. I was very 
glad when we got to more level ground. We 
drove through the pass of the Trossachs, to 
Aberfoyle, the country made famous by Sir 
Walter Scott. This part of our drive was 
beautiful, the roads were very smooth but 
had many sharp turns, and the horses would 
rush round them at such a rate, that I 
thought surely we will be landed among the 
heather soon, which, by the way, was coming 
into bloom and looked so pretty. We had a 
merry lot of folks with us, which made the 
drive very pleasant indeed. Tonight we are 
at the Station Hotel Stirling. 

July 11th. This morning we went through 
the Castle ; it is on a high hill, looking over 



22 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

the battlements. We saw where the battle 
of Bannockburn was fought, just about two 
miles away. In fancy I could see the troops 
marching amid the din of battle, and brave 
men falling to rise no more, and I thought 
of the anxious wives and mothers waiting 
in far off homes for news of their dear ones. 
There was a place on the roof of the Castle 
where a small platform was made for Queen 
Victoria to stand on, she being too short of 
stature to see over the battlements. 

The Castle was the birthplace of James 
second and of James fifth, who was crowned 
there. In the Douglas room James the sec- 
ond assassinated William, Earl of Douglas. 
We were shown the window where the life- 
less body was hurled to the garden below. 
We also saw the dungeon down under- 
ground, where many brave men languished 
in darkness and dampness. We saw a great 
deal of armour, whole suits, from head to 
foot. I wonder how men could fight with 
such heavy weights on them. 

We walked over Stirling bridge where 
Wallace defeated the English troops. We 
went by tramcar to the bridge of Allan. 
Leaving the car we walked about half a mile 
to Abbey Craig, which is 560 feet high, on 
whose top is the Wallace Monument, a lofty 
baronial toAver rising 220 feet high. The 
road up the hill was very steep but was over- 
hung with lovely shade trees, with seats 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 23 

here and there by the road side, for weary 
ones to rest on. As we sat on one of them 
a party of ten or twelve, young men and 
girls, came down from the Monument. They 
sat down a short way from us, and sang the 
old Scottish song, "Scots wha hae' wi' 
AVallace bled." I never heard more beauti- 
ful singing. Their voices seemed to float 
away among the trees. They also sang 
"Lead, kindly Light,'' which was very im- 
pressive and made me feel very far from 
home, and almost homesick. Then again 
we w^ent on, it was quite a climb to get there, 
but we were repaid for the walk. In the 
lower part of the monument there is a very 
nice tea room. We had tea, cake, straw- 
berries and cream, and we quite enjoyed it. 

In another room curios of many kinds 
were for sale, we paid sixpence each to go 
up in the tower. The stone stairway iis 
spiral, and there were 250 steps. As Ave 
went up we were shown three large rooms 
one above the other : one room had a bust 
of Wallace and other prominent heroes, the 
armour of Wallace, the sword which he 
fought with. It was very large and heavy, 
five feet in length. He must have been a 
giant to be able to use it. It is kept in a 
glass case. 

After seeing all the old relics, we went 
down to the station, got our travelling cases, 
and took the train for Edinburgh. While 



24 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

there we stayed with a friend, a Scotch lady 
Pier house w^as on Princess street. In front 
were the City Gardens, and Park, a lovely 
sight of trees and flowers, charming walks 
and restful seats. We could see Edinburgh 
Castle from our windows, of which I shall 
speak later. Along the street stood the 
great Scott Monument, built of red sand 
stone, more than two hundred feet high, 
built in gothic style with many spires and 
turrets, a worthy tribute to a worthy man. 
Going into the Castle we entered by a draw- 
bridge, crossing the old moat and passing 
under a portcullis. In the Castle we were 
shown the croivn room, containing the Scot- 
tish Eegalia, Queen Mary's room, in which 
James first of England was born, in 1566. 

The old Parliament Hall, has a museum 
and arucLorj, I was very much interested 
in the armour. A magnificent view of the 
city and the Firth of Forth, with Highland 
hills in the background, is obtained from 
the bomb battery. 

I was very much interested in our 
visit to Holyrood Palace, the former res 
idence of the Scottish kings. Some of the 
rooms of Mary, Queen of Scots, are still pre- 
served and contain some of the relics of 
that ill fated queen. In the vestibule of the 
Audience Chamber a brass plate in the 
floor indicates the spot where Kizzio was 
murdered. We also saAv the secret stair- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 25 

way where the assassins came up to do their 
dark deed. I sat on a chair in Queen 
Mary's room where she had often sat. 
Visitors are not supposed to do so, but I 
just wanted so much to sit there. After 
lunch we went to see the botanical gardens, 
and some of the large churches. 

On Sunday we went to St. Giles' Cathe- 
dral. The congregation numbered about 
fourteen hundred. St. Griles' Church is the 
ancient parish church of Edinburgh, dating 
from the 12th century. It is a very gTand 
massive stone church. 

July 14th. We spent the morning writ- 
ing letters for home. In the afternoon we 
went to see the great bridge over the Forth. 
The distance to the bridge was nine miles. 
We went in a motor car, which took only a 
few minutes. The roads were very smooth 
and clean, and we enjoyed every mile of it. 

When we arrived at the bridge, we went 
on board a beautiful little pleasure steamer 
and went down the river, under the great 
bridge. Some young men on the boat 
played Scottish airs on violins, which sound- 
ed very nice, on the water. After a very 
pleasant excursion we arrived back at our 
hotel with good appetites for dinner. 

July 15th. We went to Melrose, today. 
We left Edinburgh by the ten o'clock train. 
When we reached Melrose our guide brought 
a carriage and drove us to Sir Walter 



26 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

Scott's home. After we saw tlie beautiful 
laAvns and gardens, we were shown tkrougli 
tlie liouse, whicli indeed is a castle, built of 
red sand stone, trimmed with granite. The 
house still has a great deal of the original 
furniture. In one room there were fifteen 
chairs of ebony beautifully carved. The 
large hall walls were covered with armour 
of all kinds. The study has the same table 
and chair, where Sir Walter sat while writ- 
ing some of his famous novels. In one room 
there is a glass case with a suit of his clothes 
in it, and in the same room is an old oak 
chest, elegantly carved, but nearly dropping 
to pieces with age. It is the chest men- 
tioned in the song of long ago, (The Mistle- 
toe Bough) where the bride at her wedding 
proposed a game of hide and seek. She told 
her husband that he must be the first one to 
find her, as she ran off to hide. She went to 
some distant room, probably a store room, 
and got into this chest. The cover closed 
with a spring, and she could not get out. 
She was not found for many years after. 
But those who found the chest knew it was 
the bride lying there, who was lost, by her 
bridal dress. I had heard my mother sing 
the song so often that I was fascinated with 
the chest. 

After seeing many wonderful things in 
the house, we went to Dryburgh Abbey, 
where Sir Walter Scott and his wife and son 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 27 

are buried. The Abbey must have been a 
yery large building when it was in its prime, 
as the walls show. There are still dark 
stairways, leading down to dreadful dun- 
geons, and narrow steep stone steps lead- 
ing up to high galleries. Before reaching 
the Abbey we had to cross a small river on 
a narrow suspension bridge, very high from 
the water, which swayed with every step we 
took. I was ver}^ glad when we got off it. 

Groing about a mile farther, we came to 
Melrose Abbey. A most beautiful building 
it must have been in its day, and although 
in ruins, it is still very imposing, with its 
richly carved pillars and window frames. 
The beautiful glass of the windows, except 
a bit here and there, was destroj^ed by Crom- 
well's soldiers at the reformation. Most of 
the roofs are also gone. There were wind- 
ing stairs in the corners of the main chapel 
leading up to high cloisters. I could in 
imagination, see the cowled monks march- 
ing along them, chanting as they walked. 
The floors were pretty well taken up with 
burial slabs. One was for the great war- 
rior, Wallace: another for Bruce; another 
the Wizzard, and others for great men. Out- 
side in the cemetery there were some very 
quaint epitaphs. There was so much to see 
that I fain would have lingered the whole 
day, but we wanted to go to all the places 
that we could crowd in, so we had to hurry. 



28 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

We drove back to Melrose station, where 
we had tea, and then took the train back to 
Edinburgh. Last night we went with some 
friends to the theatre. The play was Roh 
Roy, It was simply grand. I never en- 
joyed a play better in my life. It was a 
purely Scotch play, the actors were all in 
highland costumes ; there was a very large 
orchestra. In one act two highlanders 
danced the sword dance to the music of the 
bagpipes. It was splendid, and stirred up 
every drop of Scotch blood that was in me. 

The last scene in the play was Eob Eoy's 
cave in the mountain side, opening on Loch 
Katrine. The moon was shining on the lake, 
and the water rippling in its rays, and a 
boat gliding quietly by. Well, it was just 
fine! 

Rob Roy was a great tall strong looking 
man, just what a chieftain should be, and 
Ellen was all that could be desired as a 
chieftain's wife. 

Saturday, 18th. We went for a stroll on 
Salisbury Craigs. I picked some pretty 
white heather. We walked up by Holyrood 
Palace; there were many visitors going in. 

In the afternoon, we went to the Botan- 
ical Gardens ; the band from the Castle play- 
ed beautiful airs, alternately with a band of 
pipes. The pipers Avore green and blue tar- 
tan, with white gaiters, a very handsome 
uniform. There were many hundreds of 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 29 

people present. The Glasgow people had a 
holiday, so there were a great many excur- 
sionists to Edinburgh. We went to the 
green market, about ten o'clock, but every- 
thing was sold, and the sweepers were clean- 
ing up the building. Every one seemed to 
hurry, as all the shops vclose at one o'clock, 
which gives every one a chance to enjoy an 
outing. 

Next day, Sunday, we went to Tron 
church, the church where Annie Laurie was 
married. It is a fine stone building of a 
round shape inside. We have met some 
very nice people in Edinburgh. They as well 
as we are sorry to say goodbye. I wonder 
if I shall ever again see dear old Scotland! 
As I walked down High street, I thought 
how often I had heard my father speak of 
that street. He was born in Scotland, and 
spent some years in Edinburgh. He left 
there for Canada where he met my mother. 
He often spoke of going back, but he never 
did. How we children used to love to hear 
him tell anecdotes of his young days. 

England 

We left Edinburgh this morning for York. 
A lovely bright day. We had a corridor 
compartment car, with the dearest little 
dining room, one table seated four, and the 



30 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

one we liad seated just two, so we had a very 
cosy, and a ver}^ excellent dinner. 

We arrived at York about half past one. 
We left the train and walked up the city 
to the great cathedral. We thought that we 
had seen some fine churches, but that one 
put the others in the shade. There were 
line stained glass windows in particular, 
seventy-five feet high and twenty-seven feet 
wide. The other windows were smaller, 
but all of stained glass. Some of these win- 
dows date back to the year 1200. 

The length of the cathedral is 524 feet, 
breath across the transepts 250 feet, the 
aisles 30 feet wide ; the greatest window is 
76 feet high, 32 feet wide ; the west window 
is 54 feet high, 30 feet wide. There are 
many other windows, not quite so large. 
The glass in these windows is the most ex- 
quisite stained glass in the world, and dates 
from the 12th century, so we v/ere told. 

There is a chime of bells, twelve in num- 
ber. One, a very large one, cost two thou- 
sand pounds, and weighs 17% tons. There 
is much beautiful carving on the pillars and 
walls, and many quaint tombs around the 
sides of the aisles. Coming away we walked 
for some distance on the top of the city wall. 
It is used as a promenade. There is quite a 
view from it. We stayed all night at Derby, 
at a very fine hotel ; had breakfast, and left 
for Kowsley, where we procured a carriage. 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 31 

and drove about two miles to see Haddon 
Hall, tlie home of the Yernons, of olden 
fame. The building is very large and 
grand, built of solid masonry. It is very 
picturesque with its many turrets and 
battlements. Some of the rooms are hung 
with tapestry made hundreds of years ago, 
but still holding their beautiful coloring. 

The park and grounds are lovely, with 
their noble looking trees. 

In the afternoon we left for Warwick. 
Next morning we went by coach to see the 
Castle, first seeing Guy's Cliff, the country 
seat of Lord Percy. 

Warwick Castle, the ancient and stately 
home of the Earl of Warwick, is built on a 
commanding position overlooking the Avon. 
The Castle, which is one of the finest and 
most picturesque feudal residences in Eng- 
land, is said to date from Saxon times. The 
oldest portion now standing is the huge 
Caesar's tower, nearl}^ one hunded and fifty 
feet high, built soon after the Norman con- 
quest. In the beautiful rooms and greaj: 
hall we saw many old relics and rare oil 
paintings of great value. The park con- 
tains magnificent cedars and other grand 
old trees. 

After leaving Warwick, we went to Kenil- 
worth, a distance of five miles. 

Kenilworth Castle, one of the grandest 
and most extensive Baronial ruins in Eng- 



32 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

land, Avas originally founded by Geoffrey de 
Clinton, Chamberlain of Henry Ist, about 
1120. The Castle became later royal prop- 
erty, and in 1563, was presented by Queen 
Elizabeth to her favorite, the Earl of Leices- 
ter. 

Leicester spent enormous sums of money, 
in enlarging and improving the building and 
in 1575, entertained Queen Elizabeth mth 
her large retinue eleven days at a cost of 
one thousands pounds a day. 

From Kenilworth we went to Stratford- 
on-Avon, where Shakespeare once lived. 
We lirst drove to the church where he was 
christened, married and buried. He is 
buried in the Chancel beneath a large slab, 
which has this strange verse on it, familiar, 
I dare sav, to manv : — 

"Good Friend, for Jesus' sake forbear 
To dig the dust enclosed here. 
Blest be the man that spares these stones, 
And curst be he that moves my bones." 

After seeing the quaint little church, we 
drove to Ann Hathaway's cottage, the girl 
whom he married. There was little to see 
except the queer little rooms, the big fire- 
place, the old settle by the inglenook, where 
they two sat, as lovers. I sat down for a 
while where the great poet had so often sat. 
The cottage is thatched, and has stone floors. 
There is a pretty garden, nicely kept, with 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 33 

lovely flowers^ climbing roses, hoUyliocks, 
etc. 

We went to see Shakespeare's house. The 
rooms are nearly the same as when he lived 
in them, the old desk and chair where he 
sat to write his plays are still there. 

This morning we leave for London. I am 
very glad for there we expect to get letters 
from home. In London we went to the First 
Avenue Hotel, a very fine one, on Oxford 
street, but the noise of traffic makes me 
dizzy. Never have I seen so many vehicles, 
of so many kinds, at once. 

The hansoms seemed to me so very odd, 
like a covered buggy, but with only two 
wheels, and the driver sits on behind with a 
very long whip. The shafts curve up near the 
top of the horse's saddle, and I used to think 
if the backhand should break, we would soon 
find our level on the street ; but I must say 
they are fine easy carriages to ride in. 
When we arrived at our hotel we found a 
pile of letters and papers. How we did go 
through them, and how thankful to hear 
that they were all well at home ! 

The shops in London were a delight to 
me. Go where you will, there is none so 
grand except in Paris. Twice I got lost in 
Peter Eobinson's, and had to ask my way to 
Oxford street. I had gone out alone and 
thought that I could get back all right. 



34 OUR rRIP TO EUROPE 

After we liad been in London for a week I 
felt quite safe shopping. 

Yesterda}'', we went to the Tower, and 
saw the crown jewels, the great Kohinoor 
diamond, and the beautiful coronation robes 
of ruby velvet, with gold lace and gold 
crowns, and much State regalia. We were 
not allowed much time to look at them, the 
guards kept us moving. We also saw where 
Lady Jane Gray and Anne Boleyn and 
others were beheaded. 

St. Paul's Cathedral I thought very cheer- 
less, but very very grand indeed. There are 
many tombs of noted men and women in it. 

I quite enjoyed the National Museum, 
Avhich was a sight never to be forgotten. 
I was particularly delighted with the stuffed 
birds. There were some no larger than 
humming birds, their plumage sparkled just 
as though they were sprinkled with dia- 
mond dust. I never saw such birds in any 
other place. 

Today we went to the Canada High Com- 
missioner's office, and registered our names, 
and had a talk with Lord Strathcona. He 
gave us tickets to see the Parliament build- 
ings, and the King's stables. 

We went another day to Eegents Park. 
It is a lovely place, parts of it laid out like 
gardens, with the greatest amount of flowers 
of all kinds, beautiful to see; and grand 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 35 

trees, forming lovely avenues, and hundreds 
of seats for visitors to rest on. 

There were hundreds of children romping 
on the soft green grass, having a lovely time. 

We walked along through part of the park 
and came to the zoological gardens. There 
is so much to be seen there; the afternoon 
was spent before we had seen half the 
sights. There Avere all kinds of animals, 
birds, fishes, seals, turtles. We saw some 
horrid looking snakes; w^e were told that 
the}^ were twenty-live feet long. They were 
brown in color, with black spots and streaks ; 
one had shed its skin. It must have been 
shed that afternoon, as it was lying beside 
the snake ; the new skin was very bright and 
shining. 

By the time we had got to the lions' cages, 
they had been fed, and were lying do^Yll to 
sleep. One big fellow had left a large piece 
of meat, and was lying down with half 
closed eyes, watching two wee little mice 
that had come out of a hole in his cage, and 
were having a fine time nibbling at it. At 
last he was afraid that they might eat it all, 
so he gave great ya^^ni, and they fled to the 
hole. Then he dragged himself up and 
licked the meat, but did not eat it, he was 
so sleepj^ Out in the grounds there was a 
large elephant, with seats on his back to 
hold six. He was continually going up and 
down with loads of children on his back. 



36 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

They rode about thirty yards, and back, for 
a penny each. There was also a camel do- 
ing the same thing. They looked very tired, 
the day being very warm ; when the elephant 
saw children eating cake he would poke 
them with his trunk, for a piece, which made 
them laugh, and he always got some. 

One day we went to see Madam Tus- 
saud's wax works, one of London's great 
shows. I would not haA^e missed it for a 
good deal. I was puzzled at first to tell 
which were the real people. We saw King 
Edward, Queen Alexandra, the Prince and 
Princess of Wales, and indeed all the mem- 
bers of the royal family. They were all 
dressed in Court costumes, the ladies had 
very long trains, their dresses were all rich 
velvet, with much gold trimming and jew- 
els. All the ancient Kings and Queens, and 
Popes, and statesmen, for man}^ generations, 
were to be seen there. In a small alcove, 
hung around with velvet curtains and a 
lamp burning on the table, sat Queen Vic- 
toria with her pen in her hand, seemingly 
intent on wi'iting. She looked so life-like 
that I suddenly lowered my voice and step- 
ped softly; for the moment I thought that 
she was really there. In another room we 
saw Victoria as a little girl, when she was 
called from her bed to be told that she was 
to be Queen of England. She looked so 
childish and sweet, in her night dress, stand- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 37 

ing beside her niotiier and the men who 
brought the news, kneeling before her. 

Down in the Chamber of horrors we saw 
Mary, Queen of Scots as she looked when 
she went to be beheaded. She was laieeling 
dov\Ti to lay her head on the block, her little 
dog standing beside her, the executioner 
standing with his axe gripped, ready for his 
awful deed, the Queen's ladies weeping near 
her. It all looked so real, I was glad to 
pass on. We saw some of the old instru- 
ments of torture used in the olden times. 
The stocks, where a man had his feet made 
fast between two bars of wood, and sat on 
the ground with his hands tied behind him. 
People passing by would jeer at him. The 
pillory was another dreadful thing, the head 
was put through a hole in a frame as high as 
a person stood, and the frame fitted tightly 
on the back of the neck, so he could not move. 
What a mercy that those awful things are 
done away with ! 

After seeing all the curious things, we 
went in a tea room in the same building and 
had some refreshments. ISText day we went 
shopping all the morning; on our way to 
lunch there was a heavy shower of rain : we 
had to take shelter in a doorway and wait 
until it was over; presently the sun shone 
out and the sky was blue again. 

After luncheon we took a car and drove to 
Westminster Abbey. It stands quite near 



38 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

the Parliament buildings. Tlie Abbey was 
founded in the seventh century, rebuilt by 
Edward the Confessor, 1049-85, and dating 
in the present form from the 13th century. 
It contains many royal burial vaults and 
splendid tombs of celebrated men. The 
tomb of Queen Elizabeth is A^ery handsome 
in its structure of fluted pillars. Queen 
Mary's tomb is quite near to Elizabeth's. 
The Poets' Corner is very interesting, one 
wants to linger there, and gaze on the 
marble faces of these wonderful men. 

The Coronation Chair with the stone of 
destiny under it, interested me. Kings have 
been crooned for many centuries on that 
stone ; there is a legend attached to it. 

We went several days to see the Abbey ; it 
is impossible to see it all in one day. One 
day we stayed in to Church Service, in the 
Chapel. 

Quite near the abbey, Westminster Bridge 
crosses the Thames. The Victoria Embank- 
ment runs to the North along the left bank 
of the river to Blackfriars, while the Albert 
Embanlvment extends to the South, on the 
opposite bank to Yauxhall bridge. The 
former is embellished with Cleopatra's 
Needle, an obelisk brought from Egypt. 
Adjoining the Victoria Embankment are 
some elegant buildings, hotels, cottages, 
clubs, halls, etc. Near the North end of 
Vauxhall Bridge, is the large Gallery of 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 39 

British Art, tlie Tait Gallery. Here we saw 
some of the most beautiful sculpture and 
paintings, hy some of the best masters. T 
said, "Eeally, this is indeed a treat.'' An- 
other day we went to see the Wallace Collec- 
tion, in a large building of many rooms, 
some rooms covered from floor to ceiling 
with armour : some had all manner of porce- 
lain, others the most beautiful oil paintings, 
by old French and Flemish masters, and I 
did so want to go back again, but we had to 
hurry to get in all that we ]30ssibh^ could. 

Aug. 9th. Onl}^ two months since w^e left 
home. Surely it must be a 3^ear, we have 
been to so many places and have seen so 
much! Yesterday we went to Hyde Park. 
It is a beautiful place, there were thousands 
of people walking and sitting under the love- 
ly shade trees. 

After walking for some time, we went to 
a pretty Tea-garden, and had a nice tea. 
There were a large number of tables under 
the trees; the tables looked very inviting: 
spotless cloths, bright silver, pretty dishes, 
and obliging waiters, a large umbrella for 
canopy ; what more could we wish for? We 
enjoyed our very nice tea and felt quite re- 
freshed. After w^e had rested we walked to 
the Albert Memorial, a most beautiful mon- 
ument, the most elaborate that I had ever 
seen. It was erected at a cost of £120,000. 
It is a vast structure. 



40 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

Today we liave not done mucli, and yet, I 
consider it the best day we have seen in 
Jjondon. We saw by tlie papers that King 
Edward and Queen Alexandra and their 
daughter Victoria, Avere returning to Buck- 
ingham palace after an absence of two 
weeks, and by such a train they would be 
there at one o'clock. So we went to the 
palace gates and waited. There was no 
traffic allowed on the street in front of the 
gates. Soon quite a crowd gathered. The 
guards kept space for the royal carriage, 
and showed us a good place to stand. Soon 
they came along, in an open carriage. We 
were quite close to them, and had a good 
look at their Majesties. We smiled at them 
as they drove slowly b}^, and the King raised 
his hat and the Queen bowed to us. I felt 
good all day after so much glory. The Queen 
is very sweet looking and looks as young as 
her daughter. They are leaving this week 
for Balmoral, to spend a month. 

We went to Covent Garden Hotel, had 
lunch, then took a stroll through the fruit 
market, near by. I never saw so much fruit 
at once in my life, just immense quantities. 

IS'ext morning we went to Shepherd's 
Bush, to the International Exhibition. I 
think it is an annual affair, lasting from 
May until October. The grounds were laid 
out like a beautiful city, with elegant streets 
and sidewalks, and shade trees; the build- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 41 

ings were lofty and looked like they were 
made of white stone, with mouldings of 
elegant design, many of them outlined with 
electric lamps, which gave them a splendid 
appearance at night. There was a water 
course around the centre of the Fair 
grounds, with many handsome bridges span- 
ning it, nice flights of stone steps reaching 
down to the water, where pretty motor 
boats, with velvet cushions and soft carpets, 
waited to take visitors around the pretty 
water way. There was an Irish village of 
pretty white cottages with thatched roofs, 
and fires of peat. 

In some of the cottages, women were 
making lace, some weaving linen, and other 
fabrics. There was a real village green 
where the boys and girls, dressed in green 
and white, danced. There was also a High- 
land village. We went into some of the cot- 
tages to see them weaving cloth, and shawls, 
of which we bought some. There was a 
raised platform, with seats around it, in the 
open, where we saw two men and two 
women dancing a Scottish reel. They were 
in Highland costume, and a piper played for 
them. They wore a great man}^ medals for 
they were beautiful dancers and had taken 
many prizes. We shook hands with them, 
and talked with them after their dancing 
and thought them very nice people. 

I went for a ride in a rickshaw, pulled by 



42 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

a Coolie. He ran as fast as a horse. I 
paid Mm sixpence for the run, which was 
about two hundred yards. 

The tea gardens Avere very nice, and well 
patronized. In one of the buildings, we 
were shown a cold storage section with all 
kinds of meat from Australia, looking just 
as fresh as if it had been dressed the day be- 
fore. We saw some pieces of beautiful 
amber of very large size, which also came 
from Australia. 

Today we went to Oxford, we saw the 
great University buildings, and some fine 
churches; had a stroll through Addison's 
walk. We saw the Martyrs' Memorial, 
erected in 1841, to the memory of Cranmer, 
Latimer, and Eidley, who were burned at 
the stake in front of Balliol College, in 1555. 
The monument is in the richest gothic style, 
and is adorned with statues of the three 
martyrs. After going through some of the 
College Art Galleries and Museums, we 
went back to London. 

^JsText day w^e went to see Bow Bells 
Church, the church whose bells called Dick 
Whittington back when he ran away from 
old Cicely, the cook, who used to beat him. 
Dick was a poor boy who lived as an errand 
boy in a gentleman's house. He slept in a 
garret and the rats used to run oA^er him in 
bed. Lady Alice, the gentleman's daughter, 
gave him a penny one day and he bought a 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 43 

cat, whicli soon killed the rats. In after 
years, so runs the story, Dick made a for- 
tune and married Lad}^ Alice. I suppose 
they lived happy ever after ; any way there 
is a picture of Whittington and his wife 
hanging up in the church. 

We went to Hampton Court Palace today ; 
many of the Kings and Queens lived there 
in past ages. Some of the bedrooms had 
elegant canopy topped bedsteads, with vel- 
vet curtains trimmed with gold, lace and 
fringe. The drawing rooms were hung in 
tapestry, very beautiful; the arched ceilings 
were beautiful indeed ; there were many por- 
traits of Kings and Queens, and courtiers, 
in life size, on the walls. Then the gardens 
and lawns were wonderful. Flowers of all 
kinds and colors, shrubs and trees. In one 
of the vine houses we saw a grape vine, one 
hundred and forty years old, its greatest 
girth is forty-eight inches, the principal 
branch 114 feet long, its average yield of 
grapes, over seven hundred pounds. After 
having a nice lunch we climbed into our 
coach and started back to London, a dis- 
tance of seventeen miles. On our way we 
stopped at the Kew gardens and had a walk 
through them, went in some of the glass 
houses, and saw the lovely flowers, roses of 
all kinds and colors. 

Next day we drove in a hansom to Pad- 
dington Station, and took the train for 



44 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

Windsor, a distance of 26 miles. Arriving, 
we went to see the renowned Windsor 
Castle. We were sliown through the si ate 
rooms by an official. 

The banqueting hall is magnificent, dec- 
orated with armour. At one end of the hall 
there are seats for the King and Queen, 
under a canopy top of velvet and gold lace. 

The carpet on the floor weighs twenty 
tons ; a footstep cannot be heard on it. The 
other rooms are beautiful, hung in brocade 
satin, each room being a different color, the 
furniture upholstered in the same. 

There are also fine life sized oil portraits 
of the royal family, and kings and queens 
of the olden times, on the walls. The au- 
dience chamber was upholstered in blue and 
gold velvet, in pattern of the Order of the 
Garter, the walls being covered with the 
same. 

The King's throne had a high canopy top. 
The carved woodwork of the throne was set 
with jewels of different colors, very beauti- 
ful. This room is where the king gives the 
honour of knighthood, the one to receive the 
honour kneels on one knee before the King 
who touches him with his sword, and says, 
^'arise. Sir (somebody), etc." 

I wanted very much to sit down on the 
throne, but a stern looking guard kept his 
eye on me, which made me afraid to try it. 
There was one room in particular that fas- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 45 

cinated me; it contained large glass cases, 
filled with. Queen Victoria's jewels. How 
rich and beautiful they were. I shall never 
see such a sight again. I thought that I 
Avas in Aladdin's palace. 

We saw a chair on w^heels, padded in pink 
silk, that Queen Charlotte used to be drawn 
m, to Church, probably a room in the Castle ; 
yes, of course, there is a Chapel in every 
castle and palace. After viewing the love- 
ly rooms, we went up to the top of one of 
the towers. I was very tired going up so 
many stone steps, but after gaining the top, 
we had a great view. Frogmore is in the dis- 
tance, where Queen Yictoria and Prince Al- 
bert are buried, and other members of the 
royal family. 

Then we went to see the stables; one 
stable had all grey horses, for the use only 
of the royal family; another stable had all 
bay horses, for use of visitors. I have for- 
gotten how many horses in all, something 
like fifty; there w^as a large paddock of 
sand where the horses are trained and exer- 
cised, and where the royal children learn to 
ride. 

We left Windsor by a pretty steamer and 
had a long trip up the Thames, about 45 
miles, passing splendid mansions ; the river 
was not very wide, so we had a good view of 
the houses and lovely lawns, some reaching 
down to the water, where, beside wide stone 



46 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

steps, pretty pleasure boats were moored, 
and majestic swans paddled slowly along 
under splendid sliade trees. We saw many 
house boats; some had the roofs covered 
with growing flowers ; they looked very pret- 
ty by the banks of the river, and must be nice 
to live in, in the Summer. We had to pass 
through a great many narroAV canal locks, 
Avhich made the journey very interesting. 
We saw the Henley race course where they 
have large regattas. There is about a mile 
where the river is A\dde and quite straight. 
The boats on the shore are a sight to remem- 
ber. I should sa}^ there were thousands of 
them packed closely together, some of them, 
I think, were very costly ones. Today we 
paid another Adsit to Eegent Park. I must 
mention a water lily that I saw in one of the 
glass houses. I think it was called the 
Eegina. The leaves measured over seven 
feet across, and were not yet full grown, and 
had a lip around of fully three inches deep. 
The leaves were beautifully veined with red. 
Today we went down the Thames, on a nice 
steamer to a fashionable watering place, 
called Southend-on-Sea. We landed at a 
pier about a mile from the shore, and took 
a tramcar to the beach. There is a high 
bank all along the beach, and terraces above 
it, with fine trees, shrubs and flowers, and 
band stands, with a city back of it. There 
were thousands of people on the sand ; chil- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 47 

dren Avere having sucli a fine time. There 
are numbers of beautiful bath houses under 
the bank, very inviting with their white 
tiled walls and everything so clean. There 
were thousands of nice chairs to sit on, some 
with covered tops; there were any number 
of shops with fruit and all kinds of trinkets 
for sale. 

Back in London again, we received quite 
a bunch of letters from home, which were 
quite welcome. 

Our next visit was to the King's stables. 
A groom in livery showed us through. First 
we saw the carriages, then the horses, 75 in 
all. There were eight cream colored horses, 
with long flowing tails and manes, just 
looked like silk. These are used only on 
State occasions ; eight great black ones ; the 
groom said the black ones were Spanish 
horses. 

Then we saw the harness, which was 
covered with gold, wonderful to see, the 
bridles looked like bonnets. 

It takes three men to harness one horse, 
the harness is so heavy. The State coaches 
were worth seeing. The coachman's seat 
was a mass of gold and scarlet cloth, the 
body of the coaches were lacquered with 
gold, the royal coat of arms on the door. 
Under the coachmen's feet on the front of 
the coach, were two figures in gold, men 
blowing horns (Heralds) and two more just 



48 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

behind the postillions. This coach is used 
only on State occasions snch as the opening* 
of Parliament. It is drawn by the eight 
cream colored horses. One is not supposed 
to tip the grooms that show one through the 
stables, but they don't look the other way 
when you put your hand in your pocket. 

France 

Aug. 27th. Left London for Folkstone, 
where we arrived about four o'clock P. M., 
taking a steamer for Boulogne. The Eng- 
lish Channel was smooth and we glided 
along very calmly; it was quite different 
when we were coming back. After getting 
through the Customs house, we went by 
train to Paris, which took about four hours ; 
we had dinner in the train, which we en- 
joyed. 

In Paris we went to the Hotel D'Orsay, a 
very large stylish hotel, the waiters in dress 
suits and white gloves. The fare was most 
excellent, with lots of fruit: strawberries, 
grapes, peaches, etc. Ever}^ table had wine 
on it, more wine than water. The wine, I 
think, must be very weak, for I saw women 
drink a great deal of it, and not seem any 
the w^orse. Being a white ribboner myself 
I didn't taste it. 

One day we visited Notre Dame Church, 
the finest in Paris. Its length is 390 feet, 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 49 

144 feet wide at the transepts and 102 feet 
from the floor to the vaulting of the roof, 
and is supported by 297 pillars, has 113 win- 
dows, and has two towers 205 feet high. One 
of the bells weighs 16 tons, the clapper half 
a ton. There is beautiful and costly stat- 
uary to be seen in Notre Dame. One of the 
relics to be seen there is the crown of thorns 
brought from the Church of St. Sophia in 
Constantinople, bought by Louis 9th from 
Baudouin II, for the sum of 50,000 livres. 
We happened to be in the Church when a 
ceremony was taking place ; there were six 
priests, dressed in their priestly robes, 
chanting before the high altar, the great 
organ playing; it was very solemn and 
grand. 

Napoleon's tomb is one of the sights of 
Paris; it looks like a temple from the out- 
side. You see, on entering, directly oppo- 
site the door, a magnificent altar, with high 
canopy composed of marble, bronze and 
gold. The floor is of mosaic, in beautiful 
designs. Between the entrance and the 
altar is a marble cr^^^pt, about sixty feet in 
diameter, a marble rail runs around the 
open crypt. In a circular vault in the 
centre, stands the large porphyry tomb, very 
costly, in which the great Napoleon rests. 

Just back of the rail stands his monu- 
ment of mottled marble; the canopy is of 
lacquered gold, and is supported by four 



50 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

spiral pillars. There is a window on either 
side of stained glass, which reflects the sun 
on the marble, giving a most beautiful 
eifect. Just behind this building is a hos- 
pital for the sick poor. In the large court- 
yard, King Louis XYI and Marie Antoinette 
and about three thousand others were guil- 
lotined, Charlotte Corday among them, vic- 
tims of the revolution of 1793. 

Went to the city of Versailles today, 
some fourteen miles from Paris. We enter- 
ed an immense courtyard, called the Cour 
d'Honneur, adorned on each side with rows 
of statues and one in the centre, represent- 
ing Louis XIII. The Palace of Versailles 
was commenced in 1664, by Louis XIII, but 
actually built and finished b}^ Louis XVI, 
said to have cost ten million pounds ster- 
ling. The Palace has accomodation for 
four thousand people. 

In the art galleries, of which there are 
175, there are 5,000 pictures, also busts, stat- 
uary, and some of the finest oil paintings in 
the world are to be seen here. 

Two pictures by Horace Vernet, The 
Battle of Solferino, 30 feet long and 20 wide. 
The forcible seizure of the camp and harem 
of Abd-el-Kader, 70 feet by 18. These two 
alone would take hours to see by lovers of 
art. 

The ceilings of these beautiful galleries 
are painted in gorgeous coloring, and rep- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 51 

resent scenes in the lives of tlie Kings of 
France. The galerie des glaces is 240 feet 
long, 33 wide and 42 high, hung with 17 large 
mirrors and lighted by 17 windows ; looking 
in the mirrors you could see the beautiful 
lawns reflected in them. The gardens and 
terraces around the palace were a veritable 
fairy land, the fountains, of which there are 
very many, had been shut off on account of 
scarcity of water, had been let play that aft- 
ernoon, and I never saw^ a prettier sight. 
They looked like so many gigantic white, 
ostrich plumes, one could spend a week in 
the lovely grounds and not tire of the shady 
avenues, broad marble stairways, statuary, 
fish ponds, flowers and shrubs. We were 
shown through Napoleon's coach house, and 
saw the golden coaches that he rode in to 
his coronation and marriages, the harness 
covered with gold. Some of the sleighs 
were odd looking, being lined with fur. 

Another excursion we enjo^^ed very much, 
w^as down the river Seine, about ten miles 
from Paris, to St. Cloud, a quaint old town. 
Many of the residences had high stone walls 
around them and massive iron gates. Peep- 
ing through some of the gates w^e saw lovely 
gardens, beautiful walks and fountains, and 
bright floAvers. We went to the public park, 
which excelled all that we had yet seen for 
beauty, the lovely shady avenues, the long 
stretches of flower beds, the fish ponds full 



52 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

of red and striped fishes, tlie fountains and 
lawns, were a sight never to be forgotten. 
After spending all the time that we possibly 
could, we went back in one of the pretty 
steamers to Paris in time for seven o'clock 
dinner. 

Belgium 

Sept. 1st. We left Paris for Brussels, 
arriving by train in five hours, putting up 
at the Hotel Europe, a very fine hotel. We 
had a beautiful room, with elegant furni- 
ture ; the dining room looked very fine, with 
its snowy tables, and shining silver, and 
glass, palms and fiowers. 

Next morning we drove around the city 
to see the fine buildings. Going into Notre 
Dame Church, we happened to find a mar- 
riage taking place, the groom was a rich 
banker, the bride a baroness. She looked 
lovely, dressed in white satin with very long 
train, a veil that reached to her feet, a maid 
walked behind her to keep her dress train 
straight, as they passed down the aisle after 
the ceremony. I was standing quite near 
her and as she passed me I smiled and she 
smiled and bowed to me which I thought 
very gracious of her. 

We went by train a few miles out of Brus- 
sels, to where the battle of Waterloo was 
fought, where Napoleon was defeated. 
It is a very large plain, now used as wheat 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 53 

and vegetable fields. There are a number 
of monuments raised to the memory of 
brave men who fell in that dreadful battle, 
when 72,000 men were slain. In one 
of the farm yards we saw an old well, where 
after the battle when the dead were gather- 
ed up, three hundred and sixteen bodies 
Avere put into it, some thousands more were 
buried near the well. One monument is 
called the Lion Mound, 226 steps to the sum- 
mit, on which is a huge bronze lion. This 
mound was four years in building. Leaving 
Brussels, we went to Antwerp, about two 
hours by train. After luncheon, we drove 
around the city, bought some trinkets, and 
took the train for Holland. We did not 
stop at Eotterdam on account of the black 
plague, which was raging there, so we kept 
on through lovely scenerj^, water ways, and 
windmills. We saw herds of splendid Hoi 
stein cattle feeding in green fields. We ar- 
rived at the Hague about five o'clock P. Mc, 
and put up at the Hotel Bellevue, old fash- 
ioned in some respects perhaps, but with a 
good table. We had a fine room with ele- 
gant furniture indeed. It was the best 
room we have had yet, and we have had some 
elegant ones. 

Holland 

Kext morning our guide brought a nice 
carriage, and drove us to see a fine picture 



54 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

gallery, and then to the old jail, where some 
four hundred years ago, the Spanish author- 
ities used to torture their prisoners. We 
were taken through the cells, and shown the 
instruments of torture, such as the pillory, 
stocks, gallows, the rack, the irons the}^ used 
to burn their flesh with. 

Another horrible thing was a long bench 
Avith the end chopped very much. The per- 
son Avas laid down on it and his head chop- 
ped off. It was full of axe marks. One 
dark room was Avhere a young priest died. 
He had turned Lutheran, so they kept him 
there for a time and tortured him. When 
he would not give up his faith, they strang- 
led him. He had dug a hole in his prison 
wall about a foot deep with a spoon, but the 
three foot wall was too much for him. We 
saw where he had written on the wall with 
his own blood. 

In another upstairs room there was an 
iron grating facing the place where the cook- 
ing was done, about six feet away. In that 
room people were put and starved to death. 
What agony those poor creatures must have 
suffered, to smell the food cooking and not 
be given any ! 

All the doors, floors, and stairwaj^s were 
built of solid oak, which never seems to 
wear out. We drove through the park, 
which is celebrated for its beauty, and also 
for its royal villa, "house in the woods." It 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 55 

is one of the palaces of the Queen of Hol- 
land. The Queen was away with her house- 
hold, in the mountains, and visitors, by pay- 
ing a small fee, could see some of the beauti- 
ful rooms, which were so grand, that T 
thought I must be in Aladdin's palace. 

The portraits on the walls were painted 
by Kubens. One room that I liked very 
much had a dome shaped ceiling painted in 
flowers and nymphs. Eight underneath the 
dome was a table about six or eight feet 
long about three wide, it was made of dark 
brown porphyry, looking like glass. Look- 
ing at the table you could see paintings in 
the dome reflected in it, which was very 
beautiful to see. In one room the walls were 
hung with the most lovely silk, all hand 
worked by Japanese ladies, the curtains 
were quilted silk on one side and woven gold 
on the other; one room had tables and 
stands inlaid with pearl, the chairs were 
covered in silk and embroidered in beautiful 
designs by hand. There were so many love- 
ly things to exclaim over that I nearly lost 
my head. 

In a lovely little room where Queen Wil- 
helmina did her writing, by her desk her 
chair was just as she left it. I asked the 
lady who showed us round if I might sit 
down for a moment in it, she seemed quite 
pleased to have me do so. 

Sunday we went to church in the morn- 



56 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

ing. The Minister was a New York man; 
the service being in English we enjoyed it 
very much. In the afternoon we went to 
the seaside, by train, to a place called Sche- 
veningen, a great bathing resort. 

There is a very long beach with a splendid 
sea-wall of stone. Below the wall on the 
beach, there are small shops where they sell 
trinl^ets, fruit, tea and coffee and beer. 
There is a pier running out quite a long 
distance, with a large building on it for 
dancing. The pier is lighted on both sides 
with many electric lights and is a splendid 
sight at night. On the sands, are hundreds 
of willow chairs, with covered tops, so the 
sun may not shine in one's eyes, when going 
on the beach. You pay two pence for the use 
of a chair with the privilege of walking any- 
where and sitting on any A^acant chair. One 
thing I very much liked was bathers were 
taken down to the water in a bath house 
drawn by a horse, when they opened the 
door and went down a couple of steps into 
the water. I didn't see any bathers walk- 
ing on the beach showing off their forms in 
a w^et bathing suit. 

Leaving 'S Graven Hage we went to Am- 
sterdam: put up at the Victoria. In the 
afternoon we went to a large museum and 
picture gallery. We saw quaint old costumes 
of Dutch folk for many generations back. 
We also went to the palace where Queen 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 57 

Willielmiiia lives when ske is in Amster- 
dam. The rooms are very beautiful, all 
hung in silk brocade. One room was hung 
in yellow, one in blue, one in crimson ; fur- 
niture upholstered in the same. 

One, the throne room, I must particularly 
mention. The throne Avas on a raised plat- 
form and consisted of two chairs with gold 
frames and gold crow^ns on the backs, a 
large canopy top of white and garnet satin, 
trimmed with gold lace, with long curtains 
reaching to the floor. How grand it all 
looked, and how I did want to sit on that 
throne, but there was a rail around it, to 
keep folks like me back. The stores were a 
delight. I wanted to buy so many things, 
but the great trouble was to carry them 
from place to place. 

We went to an island, about 17 miles from 
^Vmsterdam, called Markam, a fishing vil- 
lage. All the people wore wooden shoes, 
and the women odd looking clothes, red 
waists, with blue sleeves or white. Their 
skirts had, about ten inches below the belt, 
a yoke of quite different color from the skirt, 
either checks or striped, the skirt plain. 
The women and girls wore white muslin or 
lace hoods, with the sides turned back. 
They all seemed beautifully clean, both their 
clothes and their homes. After visiting 
some of their homes and buying some curios 
we went back to our pretty steamer and had 



58 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

luncli, then after steaming through water 
ways and canals, we arrived hack in Am- 
sterdam. 

Leaving Amsterdam we started for 
Cologne; after arriving there we di'ove 
around the city, we went into the cathedral, 
which is a very large structure, built in 
gothic style. The double spires are 555 feet 
high, the great bell weighs 37 tons, and is 
cast of cannons, taken from the battlefield 
of Waterloo. The fluted columns inside the 
church are magnificent. 

We next went to the Church of St. Ursula. 
There was a large number of visitors going 
in, strangers, I suppose, like ourselves. This 
Church was built in the twelfth century, and 
is reputed to hold the bones of 11,000 vir- 
gins, who were on a pilgrimage to Rome, 
with St. Ursula ; they were set upon by the 
Huns, and all murdered. 

Their bones are laid on the walls in pat- 
terns, somewhat resembling mosaics. The 
skull of St. Ursula, and some of her compan- 
ions are kept in gold and glass cases, but 
Avhether in gold or glass, the skulls all look- 
ed alike to me, and very disgusting at that. 
Around the room were stands with busts of 
people on them. Inside they were full of 
bones. I forgot to say that St. Ursula's 
skull was in a glass and gold case with gems 
set in it, another had a bone of her forearm 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 59 

with a band of jewels across it, another had 
a finger bone. 

I wonder if those priests who show visit- 
ors those horrid relics, believe themselves 
what they tell them. 

But it pays them well to tell extravagant 
stories, from the fees they collect. I thought 
it would have been much better to have 
buried the poor bones. Another thing seems 
rather queer : how do they get the bones 
clean? 

Germany 

After bu3dng some pretty things we drove 
to the steamer to go to Heidelberg, which 
was a delightful trip of one hundred and 
twenty miles up the Rhine. The Rhine in 
some parts, from Cologne to Mayence, is 
rather narrow, seemed to be not more than 
a mile wide, so we were quite near the 
shores, and had a good view of the cities on 
each side as we passed along ; we sav/ vine- 
yards on both sides of the river, reaching 
away up the sides of the mountains as far as 
the eye could reach. 

The day was lovely and warm. The pas- 
sengers sat on deck and enjoyed the beau- 
tiful scenery. We had lunch and dinner on 
the deck, everything served in good style. 
We had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman 
and his wife, also tourists, they were from 
Bournemouth, England. We were sorry to 



60 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

say goodbj^e to tliem at Mayence. We land- 
ed there, tliey went farther on. 

We arrived in Mayence about 9 P. M., and 
put up at the Hotel Holland. Next day we 
went by train to Heidelberg. After lunch 
we drove around the city, visited a large old 
castle up on one of the hills. The drive was 
very enjoyable, and the view from the hills 
grand. In the cellar of the castle we saw a 
wine cask, the largest in the world. It is 
twenty four feet high, holds over a quarter 
of a million bottles of wine. We walked up 
some steps and sat for a while on top of the 
huge cask. 

Switzerland 

Sept. 11th. We arrived in Interlaken, a 
beautiful spot in the Alps. We went to the 
hotel Metropole. We had an elegant room. 
From the windows w^e could see distant 
mountains, snow capped and glistening in 
the sunshine, the near ones were green with 
lovely trees; there were pretty Swiss cot- 
tages peeping through the foliage, pretty 
gardens with bright flowers ; a winding river 
doAvn the valle}^ completed a beautiful pic- 
ture. 

Next morning we went to church. I must 
say here that nearly every church we went 
to, the Minister and others seemed to know" 
that we were strangers, and would come to 
shake hands with us, w^hich made us feel 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 61 

tliat after all, we are brothers and sisters 
the world over. In the afternoon we went 
down the lake Thiin in a nice steamer to a 
place called the gorge of the Aar river. The 
gorge is a cleft in the mountains. I don't 
know how far the cleft extends, we walked 
more than a mile, and returned. The chasm 
in some places, is perhaps twenty yards 
wide, in others about two or three. A very 
swift stream flows through it. We were 
told that the stream was eighty feet deep; 
the rock on both sides is very high, about 
four hundred feet. On one side of the 
stream, for more than a mile, there is a 
plank walk about four feet wide, with an 
iron rail: it winds in and out just as the 
stream goes, and some places through short 
tunnels; here and there seats where iveary 
ones can rest, in dear little grottos cut in 
the rock. Some places, in looking up 
through the cleft, we could see a bit of blue 
sky, it was all very wonderful. As we walk- 
ed back to the entrance of the gorge, we 
went into a pretty chalet, with vine covered 
verandas, beautiful flowers, and had hot 
coffee and cake. After buying some pretty 
things, w^e got into our carriage, which was 
waiting for us, and drove back to the steam- 
er about a mile away. After leaving the 
boat Ave had to ride a couple of miles in the 
electric cars and about one mile in the hotel 
bus. 



62 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

One morning we had breakfast quite 
earl}^, and were di*iven to the cars that go 
up the mountain, ( one of the Alps ) , height 
some ten thousand feet. The train consist- 
ed of two cars and an engine. 

The engine goes behind the cars and 
pushes them up. The track is quite narroAV 
and the road very steep ; looking do^Ti from 
the car window made me almost dizzy. Some 
places the houses in the valleys looked like 
toys, they were so far below us. But it was 
a most delightful sight, — the valleys among 
the different peaks, with their pretty houses 
and green fields and lovely gardens, bright 
with flowers. Along the sides of the road, 
growing in the crevices of the rock, there 
would be such pretty blue flowers, and in- 
deed all colors; but I thought the bluebells 
so very pretty. 

After we had reached the top of the 
mountain we had lunch at a very fine hotel. 
After satisfying our appetites with the good 
fare provided for us, we were shoi^ai some 
splendid St. Bernard dogs. One dog in his 
day had saved 150 lives : his labors are over. 
He is stuft'ed and kept for the good that he 
has done. If he had done such good deeds 
in England he would have had a costly mon- 
ument erected to his memory. 

We saw some people with long staffs in 
their hands, climbing up some of the icy 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 63 

mountain sides. I tliink they were fond of 
adventure. 

Some places on the sides of tlie ice cover- 
ed mountains tkere are wide cracks where 
they would have to jump across, in other 
places the snow was quite deep. 

There were three tourists that same day, 
smothered in the snow that had swirled 
down off the higher peaks, on them; one of 
their party, I don't know how, was saved, 
but the other three were dead ; their bodies 
were brought doAvn in our train to Lucerne. 

We went through a tunnel in the mount- 
ains, three miles long; it was quite dark 
except here and there; we saw a lamp at 
some open places in the tunnel; the cars 
stopped to let the passengers get out to 
look down the mountain side; at one place 
the snow drifted around us, and we had a 
jolly snowball fight. The snow was soft and 
didn't feel very cold. We had a very pleas- 
ant time, and made many friends. 

Coming back, the road was all down 
grade. When we got back the hotel bus 
was waiting for us, and we got home for 
seven o'clock dinner. 

Next day in Lucerne we went to see the 
cathedral of St. Leodegar, said to have been 
built in the eighth century, and restored 
after a fire in 1633. 

The carved pulpit and pillars and altars 
are very beautiful and costly. The organ is 



64 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

one of tlie best in tlie world. While we were 
in Lucerne there was an organ recital every 
evening, from half past six to half past 
seven. Every one had to be on time. If a 
minute later than half past six, there was 
no admission, the doors were locked. One 
of the pieces we heard played was called 
^'The Storm/' which was truly grand. 

The cemetery near this church was very 
odd. It is not very large and is laid off in 
terraces, most of them under a roof with a 
stone floor, which is all taken up with burial 
slabs, and the sides of the terraces with 
vaults. Another place we saw the Lion 
of Lucerne ; it is carved on the side of a solid 
rock, in memory of soldiers of the Swiss 
guard who fell in battle in 1792. 

Some of the stores are very fine, and were 
a delight to me. By some of the shop doors 
on the sidewalk, girls were sitting, making 
lace, and embroidering handkerchiefs, etc. 

One day we went with some friends and a 
guide to a mountain called Rigi, it is about 
six thousand feet high. We drove from our 
hotel to the lake of Lucerne, then by steamer 
about four miles. After landing we got in 
a train of two cars with the engine in the 
rear, which pushed the cars up; it was a 
very steep road, in some places looking down 
the sheer rock one would wonder that the 
train did not rush back and go over, but of 
course it was a cog road and there was not 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 65 

much danger of it doing so. Here and 
there we stopped at a station and women 
came to the cars with baskets of beautiful 
fruit to sell. Some one in the company al- 
ways treated, so we had a lovely time. 

We arrived at the summit of the mount- 
ain at half past twelve, and went to a very 
fine hotel for dinner, and a splendid dinner 
it was, and so with good company and good 
appetites, we spent a pleasant hour at table. 
After dinner we went out to look down on 
the world from the top of the mountain. 

Some of these mountains have many 
hotels, and very large ones they are. I did 
so wish to stay there for a month. I love 
the mountain air, it is so pure, and the 
scenery so grand; the sunsets are magnif- 
icent. 

Near some of the hotels, women had 
tables in the fields, (there are green fields 
even in those high mountains) where one 
can buy post cards, and many pretty toys 
and walking canes, pipes, etc. 

Some of the Avomen spoke English quite 
well, others not one word; one woman took 
us to her cottage to see her baby girl, she 
was a little beauty, with large brown eyes 
and curly browii hair, we all wanted to take 
her home with us. Looking down from the 
mountain top, we saw lovely valleys, dotted 
over with pretty farmhouses. Here and 
there a village, with a glimpse of beautiful 



66 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

blue lakes. Sometimes snow white fleecy 
clouds would sweep do^vn, covering up the 
valleys from our sight, then in a little while 
they would blow away and the bright sun- 
shine would flood the valley and the mount- 
ain peaks, a gorgeous sight, nothing more 
beautiful in the world. 

Italy 

I wanted to stay in Switzerland, but we 
had to keep moving to get in as much as we 
could, so one flne morning we found our- 
selves in the train once more, on our way to 
Milan. When we arrived there, we hired a 
guide to show us around. We first went to 
Milan's great cathedral. The stained glass 
windows were splendid. There are many 
cardinals buried beneath the slabs on the 
floor, and high up in the vaulted roof their 
red hats are to be seen hanging on a wire 
which reaches the length of the church on 
either side. 

There are many fine paintings on the 
walls and above the altars. After seeing 
some other churches and fine buildings we 
were taken to see a cemetery, which was 
like a small city, with so many beautiful and 
costly monuments, and elegant marble stat- 
uary. Some of the tombs were like small 
palaces, the pillars and steps and sculpture 
must have cost enormously. The gate- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 67 

way was througli a very high stone arch, and 
the roadways inside were like velvet, the 
flowers and shrubs were very beautiful ; one 
thing seemed very odd to me, many of those 
tombs had a photo of the departed ones set 
in the marble. 

There are many splendid shops in Milan. 

After a few days spent in Milan we went 
to Venice. We arrived at six o'clock in the 
evening, very tired from our long warm ride 
in the train. I must say though that the 
cars were very comfortable : they were com- 
partment, vestibule cars, which was very 
nice, for we could walk from one compart- 
ment to another, which made variety. The 
scenery along the route was lovely. When 
we arrived at the Canal in Venice, the gon- 
dolas (cabs of Venice) were thickly gather- 
ed along the side of the bank, and such a 
clatter as they made, every gondolier shout- 
ing for passengers. I was glad that we had 
an Italian guide. All we had to do was to 
walk down the stone stairway into the gon- 
dola, which by the way was like an ordinary 
cab inside, the boat itself is quite long, with 
a high peak in the front, something like a 
swan's neck and head; the cab part is in 
the centre of the boat. There is a small deck 
on each end, on the back one the gondolier 
stands, and propels the boat along with one 
very long oar, and steers at the same time. 
We had to go about a mile to the hotel. 



68 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

wMch was a very fine one; had once in the 
balmy days of Venice been a palace. We 
landed by white marble steps and were wel- 
comed by the host, and shown to beautiful 
rooms. IS'ext day we went to see some of 
the splendid buildings, churches, picture 
galleries, stores, etc. The palace of the 
Doges, or Dukes, had many beautiful paint- 
ings and rich carvings. 

Another fine building had a clock tower, 
built in 1496. The hours are struck on a 
huge bell, by two bronze men with heavy 
hammers. We saw the bridge of sighs, 
where prisoners were led across to prison, 
and to death. 

We walked over the Eialto bridge. It 
was built in 1588, and was the only bridge 
over the grand Canal until 1854. It is a 
marble arch of 74 feet span, and 32 feet 
high. There are small shops on the bridge. 
Another beautiful part of Venice we visited 
called Lido, a bathing resort, where thou- 
sands go bathing in the Adriatic. The Ex- 
celsior Palace Hotel is magnificent, the 
gardens around delightful, the view from 
the top of the tower is wonderful. 

One day as we were walking by the grand 
canal, a funeral came along from a church 
near us. First there came a band of music 
playing softly, then a group of girls dressed 
in white with long garlands of flowers round 
their necks, then four men dressed in white, 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 69 

carrying a wMte canopy under wMch a 
priest walked, then tlie bier, carried by four 
men; beMnd tliem came the mourners. When 
they came to the canal there was a gondola 
draped in black, with others waiting for 
them. One day we passed by Desdemona's 
palace, spoken of by Shakespeare. I did so 
enjoy the gondolas, they seemed to glide 
along so quietly; some of the gondoliers, 
belonging to private families, I suppose, 
were dressed in velvet, with white stockings 
and white ruffles at their wrists and down 
the front of their short jackets, short pants 
to the knee, and large soft felt hats. They 
did look so nice; some had black suits, 
others had brown or blue and so on. 

After spending a few delightful days, 
seeing the sights and visiting the beautiful 
shops and bazaars, we said goodbye to the 
Hotel Danieli, and started for Florence, a 
ride in the cars of about 186 miles, over a 
very rough road, but through a continuous 
vineyard of grapes, peaches, olives, and 
many other kinds of fruit. We were about 
six hours reaching Florence. We went to a 
hotel called the Great Briton, beside the 
the river Arno. While there we visited 
the great cathedral, the baptistry, and other 
line buildings. One cla}^ we drove to the 
villa, on a high hill where Michael Angelo 
spent most of his life; later we saw^ where 
he was buried. 



70 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

In tlie catliedral we saw some of Ms beau- 
tiful paintings. One of tlie Art Galleries 
especially beautiful was called tbe Portico 
clegli Uffizi, erected by Yasari, in 1560. In 
tlie second story of the building is tbe 
famous Uf&zi gallery founded by tlie Medici, 
one of tlie largest and choicest collections 
in tlie world. The hall Ioiot^ti as the Trib- 
une is the inner sanctuary of this temple of 
art, (the richest room in all the world) con- 
taining the Venus de Medici, the dancing 
fawn, the Apollino, the Wrestlers, and other 
marvels of ancient sculpture. 

In paintings, Eaphael, Michael Angelo, 
Titian, and other great masters, are repre- 
sented by some of their best works. Be- 
sides the paintings and sculptures there is 
a rich collection of Etruscan and Italo-Gre- 
cian vases, cabinets of coins, gems, etc. 

In a church called St. Marco, we saw a 
very wonderful painting, b}" Ghirlandajo ; it 
was The last Supper of Christ and his dis- 
ciples ; really the figures seemed to be alive. 
They sat out so, on the canvas, that I found 
myself stepping softly lest I should disturb 
them ; it was a very large picture, taking in 
the whole end of the room. We visited 
many other beautiful buildings and inter- 
esting places ; then we left for Rome, Eome 
where I never expected to go. I thought 
surely I must be dreaming. We left Flor- 
ence at one o'clock P. M. We had a very 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 71 

rough ride in tlie train, but through beauti- 
ful scenery for more than a hundred miles 
of vineyards. At the stations women and 
boys brought fruit and wine to sell, the 
grapes were sweet and luscious, and very 
cheap. Every one who owns a bit of land 
has grape vines, and mulberry trees. The 
mulberry leaves are gathered, while tender 
and sold to people who raise silk worms. 

All my life I have wished to go to Eome, 
and how strange it seems to be in the land 
where St. Paul and St. Peter lived and 
wrote many of their epistles! We put up 
at the Hotel Metropolitan, a very fine build- 
ing, the parlors and dining rooms were ele- 
gant, the floors inlaid and tiled. 

In Kome we had a guide for the city be- 
sides our travelling guide. He was a gentle- 
man in every wa}^, knew the whole history of 
Eome, and explained everything to us, 
which made our sightseeing very interest- 
ing. 

Our first visit was to St. Peter's Cathe- 
dral. It stands on the site of the Circus of 
Xero, where many Christians were mar- 
tyred, and where St. Peter is said to have 
been buried, after his crucifixion. The 
church is 696 feet in length, 450 in breath 
through the transepts, the height of the 
nave is 150, and the interior of the dome 403 
feet, the diameter of the dome 138 feet. 
The pictures in the dome look like beautiful 



72 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

oil paintings, but are done in mosaic and 
gold. Near the main altar in the middle of 
the floor there is a large beautiful four- 
pillared monument of richly colored marble, 
with high canopy top of mosaics and gold; 
at the base of this monument, there is a 
crypt which forms a large circle in the floor, 
and has a marble rail around it ; there are 
89 lamps burning continuously around this 
rail. There are two gates in the rail, with 
short flights of marble steps leading down 
to the tomb of St. Peter. His bones are in- 
closed in a golden urn, and kept in a glass 
and gold case, very costly. There are many 
statues of saints throughout St. Peter's, 
some of enormous size, but being set high up 
in niches, they do not appear so very large. 

There is one statue of St. Peter cast in 
bronze, he is sitting on a chair mth his feet 
on the edge of the pedestal, the toes of his 
right foot are quite worn away by worship- 
pers kissing them. 

Our guide took us to see the ecclesiastical 
robes, which the Cardinals and Bishops 
wear when officiating in the church. They 
were magnificent, cream colored satin heav- 
ily trimmed with silver and jewels, some 
were red, nearly covered with gold lace and 
gems, hats covered with gold and jewels. I 
thought how very fortunate we were to be 
allowed to see all those beautiful things. 

A priest unlocked a great many doors and 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 73 

showed us the gold and silver and crystal 
flagons and cups, used in their service. To 
me they were a most wonderful sight, and I 
thought it a great privilege to see so much 
wealth. 

It seemed strange also — so much wealth 
locked up in a church and so many poor hun- 
gry people in the streets. I have not seen 
so many cripples and poor people in all m}^ 
travels as I have seen in Eome. We went 
to the Vatican one day, and were shown 
through the Pope's library and picture gal- 
lery. 

The beautiful paintings, mostly by Mich- 
ael Angelo, were chiefly pictures of the bible 
ages. The marble statuary was elegant 
and costly, probably the best in the world. 
The palace of the Vatican has been the res- 
idence of the Popes dating back as far as 
1377. Its length is 1151 feet, its breadth 
767, and it is said to contain 11,000 rooms, 
great and small. In the picture gallery 
were many choice paintings, among them 
the Transfiguration y the Madonna^ by Mich- 
ael Angelo. 

The Cappella, Sistina, or Sistine Chapel, 
built in 1473, is 133 feet long and 45 wide ; 
the ceiling is covered with frescoes by Mich- 
ael Angelo, the sides decorated by some of 
the other great Florentine masters. 

On the altar wall is the great fresco of 
the Last Judgment, painted by Michael An- 



74 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

gelo. It took him seven years to paint it. 
It is a wonderful picture, and one that com- 
mands close attention. In this Chapel, the 
Pope preaches at times. There is a raised 
dais, with a chair, or throne, especially for 
him. While we were in the Chapel there 
Avere some workmen mending the inlaid tile 
floor, and the throne was taken off the dais 
and stood back by the wall. 

I did so want to sit on that throne, so 
watched my chance and while a number of 
visitors were going out, I got around to it 
and sat down for an instant. The chair 
had a chain across it to keep people off, but 
I pushed it aside. I just barely escaped 
being seen by the guard. 

We had some beautiful drives through 
Kome ; one was up to the top of the Pincian 
hill. We could see the whole city of Eome, 
a beautiful sight. On this hill were lovely 
gardens, and trees, shady walks, some splen- 
did statues, one particularly fine was Gari- 
baldi on horse back in bronze. 

Another beautiful church we visited, the 
church of San Giovanni. It is the churcli 
of the Pope, as bishop of Kome. Here his 
coronation takes place. Over the front en- 
trance there is a balcony, from which, every 
Ascension Day the Pope blesses the people. 
The interior of the church is very beautiful 
in religious pictures, in mosaic and rich oil 
paintings. 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 75 

In this church we saw the first throne of 
the Popes ; it was made of marble, but being 
broken it was put aside with other antiques. 
By permission I sat on that throne also. 

A block of polished granite inserted in 
the wall of the church, was said to be the 
stone whereon the soldiers cast dice, for 
the Lord's vesture, which was without seam 
and could not be parted. (Strange, in 
Jerusalem we were shown another. ) I don't 
think either one was the real one. Along 
farther a slab of marble upheld by four pil- 
lars was said to be the height of Christ. I 
wonder if anyone is so foolish as to believe 
all this nonsense. 

In another church, the Scala Santa, there 
is a flight of 28 marble steps reputed to be 
from the house of Pilate, and trodden by 
the feet of Jesus; the}^ were white marble, 
covered with wood to protect them from the 
Avear of devotees; no one is allowed to go 
up them except on their laiees, and thou- 
sands go up and kiss every step as they go. 

We went next to see the state apartments 
of the King and Queen of Italy. We went 
into a spacious marble hall, then up wide 
shallow steps about thirty in number, car- 
peted in thick soft carpet, so there was no 
sound when we walked. One room was full 
of glass cases, where we saw some very cost- 
ly treasures, gold and silver plate and jew- 
els. We were taken through many beau- 



76 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

tiful rooms, some of them hung in tapestry, 
some brocade satin, each in a different color. 
The furniture in each room was upholstered 
to match the walls. One room was in green, 
another yellow, another blue. The throne 
room was beautiful in crimson and gold. 
The throne was on a raised dais of four 
circular steps, covered with soft carpet. 
Above the throne was a canopy top with a 
gold crown and long curtains that reached 
the floor. The curtains were crimson velvet 
trimmed with gold lace and fringe. I was 
one of the last ones leaving the room, the 
guards were walking ahead. As they pass- 
ed through a door, opening into another 
room, I made a dash up the throne steps, 
and sat for one brief moment on the throne 
of the King of Italy. I finally caught up to 
my friends, trjdng to look calm, but my 
heart going pit-a-pat. 

There is another church that I must men- 
tion. I forgot to write down the name of it. 
However, we were taken down beneath the 
first fioor, where we saw several rooms, the 
ceilings and sides of them decorated with 
the bones of dead monks. The ceilings were 
done in patterns, with the small bones of 
the hands and feet, the corners of the rooms 
with the hipbones and skulls, the long bones 
filling in designs on the walls ; several skele- 
tons were dressed in brown robes, standing 
with cowls on their heads and a book in 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 77 

their hands. A gruesome sight ! How much 
better it would be to bury those poor bones, 
but of course everyone who goes to looli at 
them pays a fee, and so a lot of idle men 
live off the dead. I could not help wonder- 
ing how they cleaned all those bones before 
they decorated the rooms. 

There are many other places I would like 
to mention Avhich we saw, the Catacombs, 
where we went down in underground pass- 
ages, carrying lighted candles in our hands. 
We could see the places in the walls where 
bodies had been laid hundreds of years ago, 
now some are just empty spaces, others 
sealed up. 

The Colosseum, which at one time accom- 
modated eighty seven thousand people, 
though in ruins, is still a wonderful sight. 
Walking around the arena, I shuddered to 
think of the awful deeds done there, of the 
many martyrs torn to pieces by savage 
beasts ; but not more savage than the people 
who gathered there. 

Soon we shall have to say goodbye to 
beautiful Eome, with its splendid palaces, 
and lovely gardens, and fountains, and L 
have not said all that I would like to say 
about the Eternal City, a city founded more 
than seven hundred years before the birth 
of Christ. But I shall always and often 
think of my visit there. 

Monday, Sept. 27th. We arrived in 



78 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

Naples about seven o'clock P. M. As we 
neared the cit}^ there was a rush to the win- 
dows of the car, to see Yesuvius, the first 
volcano we had ever seen ; there was a cloud 
of steam pouring out of the top ; in the dis- 
tance it looked like a huge tree. Later I 
stood on the edge of the crater and looked 
down into it. 

After leaving the train we drove to a hotel 
away up the mountain side, which runs back 
from the bay, looking down from the hotel, 
the Parker House. We had a splendid view 
of the city, down the slopes of the hills, the 
houses looked so white and pretty among 
the lovely green trees. The soft pale green 
pepper trees with their red berries, being 
especially pretty. The fig trees, too, with 
their green and purple fruit were fine to see. 
Down on the level part of the city, there are 
beautiful shops. The streets are not ver}^ 
wide, still they have good electric car serv- 
ice. There is a lovely park close by the bay, 
with beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers and 
nice seats under the palm trees. 

I loved to sit down and feast my eyes on 
the beautiful scenery. 

We hired a nice carriage several days and 
drove around the city and to points high up 
in the mountain side, where we had beauti- 
ful views of the harbor, and Vesuvius in the 
distance. There is a very fine museum in 
Naples, where thousands of relics from the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 79 

ruins of Pompeii, and beautiful statuary, 
are to be seen. 

One day we went in a pretty little steamer 
down to the island of Capri, to see tlie blue 
Grrotto. Tlie day was just lovely, tlie 
water smooth and blue as indigo ; we were 
about two hours going. On board there 
were men selling coral beads and other jew- 
elry. They were experts at their trade, and 
made people buy, if it w^as only to get rid of 
them. There was a band of musicians on 
board, who played beautiful airs, and sang 
Italian songs of which I l<:new not one word. 
Still I liked their singing. When we arrived 
near the shore where the Grotto was, the 
steamer anchored, then a fleet of small 
boats came alongside, to take tourists into 
the cove. We went down a stairway on the 
steamerside, and got in a small boat, each 
boat took two passengers; after rowing 
about a hundred yards our boatman told 
us to sit down in the bottom of the boat, as 
we had to go through a very small opening 
in the base of the mountain. There was a 
rope rail on the inside of the cave. The 
boatman caught that and passed the boat 
through for a few yards, and then we were 
in the beautiful grotto. Inside is a space 
about 175 feet by 100, and 41 feet high, illu- 
minated onty by the entrance and by the 
reflection from the bottom 60 feet below. 
The water in the cave looks like blue flame. 



80 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

As we were rowed aroimcl inside, the Avater 
dropping from the oars looked like strings 
of pearls. It was certainly a beautiful 
sight and one which I shall never forget. 
After leaving the grotto we went back to 
the steamer and went do^vn about a mile to 
the village, where we had again to take row 
boats to go ashore. We went up the mount- 
ain side to a pretty hotel covered with vines, 
where we had a very nice lunch ; we had our 
lunch on a wide veranda which was covered 
overhead with beautiful vines. While eat- 
ing we could look down on the lovely blue 
sea. While we ate, the same musicians who 
were on the boat, put in an appearance, and 
after playing some lovely music passed a 
hat around for a donation and then left us 
in peace. Late in the afternoon we again 
went on board our steamer and after a 
delightful trip got back to our hotel. 

^ext day we drove to the train, and after 
two hours driving through beautiful vine- 
yards and very steep hills, we arrived at the 
ruins of Pompeii. A great many houses 
have been exhumed from the ashes and 
lava caused by the eruption of Vesuvius in 
the year 79 A. D., which covered the whole 
city with pumice stone and ashes to the 
depth of from ten to fifteen feet. 

Some of the buildings must have been 
very beautiful in their day, but sad to see 
now, only some of the walls and stairways 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 81 

are standing. Places like the Forum, witli 
wide, marble floors, and pillars beautifully 
carved, are really wortli seeing. Many of 
tlie streets have been cleared, they are most- 
ly very narrow, and paved with large flat 
stones, the sidewalks are very narrow and 
much higher than the street. 

There is quite a large museum there, 
where we saw some beautiful glass vases, 
and jars, and a great deal of gold and silver 
jewelry, which had been taken from the 
ruins. There were a number of bodies in 
glass cases, of men and women, which look- 
ed as if they were made of stone; we saw 
some bread and beef in pans taken from 
some of the ovens, which also looked like 
stone. There was a very great deal to see, 
and we wished that we had more time to 
wander from street to street. 

The way the ruins Avere found, we were 
told, happened this way: IN'o one knew 
where Pompeii had stood, for all the district 
far and near was covered up, and after hun- 
dreds of years some men were sinking a 
well and dug into a house. The govern- 
ment began to excavate and located the city. 

There are hundreds of houses still to be 
uncovered, as there seems to be a large 
mound stretching far away. 

One morning w^e had an early breakfast, 
and started to see Vesuvius. We went by 
train about 18 miles, then we went by bus 



82 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

to the cog train tliat goes up the mountain. 
We went up about five miles in it, all the 
wa}^ up we passed through fields of grape 
vines loaded with purple fruit, and groves 
of olive trees and plums, and nuts, and love- 
ly fiowers ; soon we came to the end of vege- 
tation, about a mile or more from the top 
of the mountain; then we saw only black 
lava and ashes. We came to the end 
of the car track, where we got out and found 
a nice hotel, and guides waiting with horses 
and men to take visitors to the top to see 
the crater; some of our party went up on 
horse back, but one lady and myself were 
carried on chairs, set on a litter and carried 
b}^ four men on their shoulders. I was 
perched up pretty high, and I assure you I 
was very glad when the top was reached. 

They charge 15 francs for a chair, but be- 
fore you reach the top, they try their best to 
get as many more from you. Italy certain- 
ly takes first place for beggars. The path 
up the mountain is a zigzag one with many 
sharp turns, some places so narrow that if 
the men had stumbled we would have been 
throAAHi doAvn the fearfully steep side of the 
mountain. Several times we got doAvn and 
Avalked, the men helping us along. At a 
bend in the path near the top, a man was 
sitting, with some kind of drinks for sale, 
our men immediately were so thirsty they 
could not go another step, so after bothering 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 83 

US for money and getting refreshed, we 
finally reached the top, where we joined 
the rest of the party who had gone before 
us on horseback. 

When we stood on the edge of the crater 
and looked down into the great basin, about 
a mile across, and I think almost as deep, 
with the steam bursting out of the cracks in 
its sides, and rising up in clouds, we could 
hear a loud gurgling sound away down at 
the botton of the crater, like stones washing 
around in water. 

Three years before we were there the vol- 
cano had an eruption, ashes flew from it all 
over I^aples, to quite a depth; on one side 
of the mountain there is, as it were, a great 
black river, reaching for miles, of solid lava, 
full of ridges and waves; what a fearful 
sight it must have been when it came flowing 
red hot, down the mountain side, covering 
up everything in its mad career! After 
coming down to the hotel and having dinner, 
we took the train for IS'aples, stopping at 
Kesina for a while. Kesina is built over the 
sunken city of Herculaneum, which was de- 
stroyed at the same time Pompeii was.- 

Spain and Morocco 

We are leaving Naples to-morrow for 
Gibraltar. I am not very sorry to leave 
N^aples. The scenery is just delightful, but 



84 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

the people are not very nice, their main 
object seems to be to fleece every stranger 
they see. 

Well we are off for Gibraltar and our ship 
goes along so steadily over the calm blue 
water; oh, how lovely the Mediterranean 
Sea looks in the sunshine, blue as indigo! 

We have met some very nice people on 
board, some are bound for the United 
States; all seem to have had a good time, 
but are glad to be going home. I wish that 
we were going home too. The folks that we 
have travelled with, will leave us at Gibral- 
tar, or rather we leave them, they go on but 
we will stay here a while, and go over to 
Spain and Morocco. 

Sunday, Oct. 3rd. A lovely day, too 
warm for wraps; after breakfast we went 
on deck for a stroll, at ten thirty we went to 
divine service, in the dining saloon, con- 
ducted by a Methodist clergyman. The ser- 
mon was simple and heart reaching. We all 
felt better after it. It seemed more im- 
pressive, being on the ocean, with no land in 
sight. 

Towards evening as my husband was 
writing at one of the tables in the saloon, 
he saw smoke coming through the casing by 
his side ; he called the steward, and after a 
while the}' had to pull down some of the 
wall and ceiling and found quite a fire, 
caused by a faulty electric wire; they 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 85 

had quite a time getting it put out. If every 
one had been in bed there would likely have 
been a serious fire. In the evening we 
walked the deck for a while, then sat in our 
deck chairs and talked with friends, and 
went afterwards to look over the rail of the 
emigrants' deck, at the Italians dancing. 
There were seven hundred men, women and 
children, going to New York ; they all seem- 
ed happy. The evening was lovely when the 
bright moon rose over the sea. 

Monday morning. Bright sunshine, balmy 
air, good in everything; we land at Gibral- 
tar this afternoon; we have made a change 
in our plans, we have decided to go with a 
friend to Palestine. 

It seems a very long trip, but we will get 
home just as soon as we had planned at first. 
I expect we shall enjoy seeing the lands of 
our dear Bible. 

How strange it seems to me to be really 
going to Jerusalem — something I never 
thought possible I 

We landed at Gibraltar about two o'clock 
P. M., and put up at the Hotel Bristol, the 
best one in the town, very plain but with a 
good table ; we went with some friends for a 
drive around the town, which did not take 
very long to do, as there are few streets to 
drive on. Nevertheless, they have a fine 
public garden with lovely trees, palms and 
flowers. It is very warm at Gibraltar and 



86 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

they grow some oranges, bananas and other 
fruit. 

The great fortress is a wonderful sight. 
The lofty rock is full of holes for cannon to 
shoot through. We had a permit to go 
through the citadel, being British subjects. 

This morning we hired a Moorish guide, 
to take us over to Tangier in Morocco; he 
is a queer looking chap : he wears a little red 
cap, with white muslin coiled around it, a 
long loose fiowing yellow robe, with wide 
iaiickerbockers of the same color, no stock- 
ings, shoes without heels, his feet just stuck 
in them. I wonder they do not drop off. 
His skin looks like very brown paper; his 
name is Mustapha. 

We are going over in a pretty pleasure 
steamer, across the straits of Gibraltar; 
the water is like glass, there was a large 
number of passengers going over. I think 
we were only about three hours or so going 
over, arriving in the harbor of Tangier. 
The anchor was dropped about a mile from 
shore, and we were landed on shore by row- 
boats. The city looked very pretty from the 
steamer. The harbor is surrounded by high 
hills ; the city has a high wall around it, the 
wall and all the buildings seemed to be built 
of white stone and from the harbor make a 
beautiful sight, with the green of beautiful 
trees and vines, intermingled. But inside 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 87 

the city is the most filthy place I have ever 
been in, except Tiberias. 

We stayed at the Continental Hotel for 
a few days, while we explored the city and 
part of the surrounding country. The streets 
of Tangier are only about twelve feet wide 
and paved with small stones of all shapes 
and are difficult to walk on. There are no 
carriages of any kind in the cit}^, not even a 
wheelbarrow; all burdens are carried on 
the backs of mules and donkeys. The streets 
are most filthy, the smell and flies are really 
sickening. 

The men look so queer, and 3^et ver}^ nice, 
in their long flowing robes; their dress is 
somewhat after this fashion: yellow slip- 
pers without heels, no stockings, or some 
will have white stockings, or yellow; very 
wide trousers gathered at the knee, a brown 
jacket trimmed with black braid, a wide 
scarf of red around the waist; over all, a 
long white or yellow robe with wide sleeves, 
and a very large hood on the robe; on the 
head a red fez cap with white muslin coiled 
around it. The women were enveloped in 
what seemed to be a large white shawl, with 
one corner coming over the face: they go 
gliding quietly along speaking to no one, 
like so many ghosts. 

One morning we went to see the shops; 
they were very small, some of them have no 
entrance, just a large open window, with a 



88 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

counter across it, the man selling goods sits 
cross legged on it, people bu3dng standing 
outside. The market was very odd, a large 
square with many narrow streets running 
into it, some of the streets or lanes were 
roofed over, which kept off the glare of the 
hot sun. There was meat in some of the 
stalls in all conditions, some pretty well 
cooked, with the sun, and some so tainted 
and covered with flies, that I had to put my 
handkerchief over my nose ; but there were 
people buying it, who seemed to think it just 
right. I Avondered if I could ever eat meat 
again. There were heaps of fresh fish (at 
least the}' probably were fresh once) lying 
on the dirty stone pavement, covered with 
flies. I stepped quickly past them; there 
were long lines of stalls with great heaps of 
beautiful sweet grapes, and other fruits, 
great heaps of onions, and other vegetables. 
Some of the women sitting in the sunshine 
selling stuff had hats as large as umbrellas. 
I stopped to admire some of them and the 
women, though they could not speak Eng- 
lish, yet seemed to know why I noticed their 
hats and were quite pleased that I did so. 
One night our guide, Mustapha, who came 
from Gibraltar, procured another of the 
city, and took us to see a gambling den. We 
were taken through dark streets with just 
a lantern to give us light : the streets were 
ver}^ dirty, but we plodded along, following 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 89 

our leaders, till we came to a dark building ; 
they opened a door and took us up a dark 
and dirty stairway, into a room where we 
saw a great many pairs of slippers by the 
door : the men going in to play remove their 
soiled slippers and put on others, perhaps 
not so soiled. The room we entered had a 
very nice square of carpet on the floor, and 
the men playing cards sat on the carpet, 
with little heaps of money by them; they 
were very quiet, and didn't seem to mind us 
looking at them. They had some ^ve or 
six musicians, sitting back of them by the 
wall, playing on the oddest looking violins, 
and flutes. But their music sounded very 
nice. The men held the violins by the shank 
with the large part on the knee; they sang 
some songs, but not being educated in 
Arabic we did not understand the words. 

While we sat there a waiter brought in 
some black coffee. I managed to drink some 
but it was not very nice, as at that time I 
had not learned to like such strong coffee, 
but after travelling in the East, where we 
often had it, I quite liked it. After sitting 
a while and buying some trinkets from the 
waiter we started back to the hotel, our 
guides lighting us along with their lanterns. 

One day we went away up on the hills, 
back of the city, past the military barracks. 
My husband and a friend with us rode on 
horses. I had a donkey, with a boy to run 



90 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

alongside. He used to give the donkey's 
tail a 3^ank to make Mm go faster. The 
saddle I sat on was like a chair turned side- 
ways. Tlie guide called it a side saddle. 
Perhaps it was, but I never saw one like it 
before. I wish I could have brought it 
home, I would have sent it to the museum. 
We were taken to a small village on the 
hill, where the houses were all made of wil- 
lows tied together, for walls and roof. It is 
quite a true saying that one half of the 
world doesn't know how the other half lives. 
The people in this village make a living by 
making pottery from the soil near them. 
The basins and jugs that we saw were as 
rough looking as the folks who Avere making 
them. 

The Mohammedans are having a month's 
fasting, at this time ; they fast from sunrise 
till sunset, then they can eat all thi'ough the 
night if they wish to. When we were leav- 
ing the hotel, all the waiters, errand boys, 
bootblacks, and donke}^ drivers, and many 
others, w^ere lined up in the lobby waiting 
for a tip. No matter how often you tip 
them, they must have a parting tip. This 
tipping business has got to be a complete 
nuisance. 

While waiting on the deck of our steamer, 
just before we left the harbor, I was inter- 
ested in another steamer taking on board 
a number of horses and cattle. They were 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 91 

brought from the shore to the steamer in a 
scow. Then the cattle were hoisted, two at 
a time, by a rope tied around their horns 
and swung from the scow up in the air, then 
down on the steamer deck ; they were hoist- 
ed by an engine, the horses had a broad band 
around their bodies to hoist them by; the 
X>oor beasts were so scared, I nearly got sick 
looking at them, and had to go to the other 
side of the ship so that I could not see them. 
We came back to Gibraltar in the cool of the 
evening, after a lovely trip over the smooth 
blue water. 

Next morning we arose quite early, about 
four o'clock, had breakfast, and were driven 
to the steamer that crosses from Gibraltar 
to Algeciras, where we took a train for 
Granada, a city in Spain, a distance of one 
hundred and forty miles, mostl}^ through a 
sandy country ; the only forest trees we saw 
were corkwood trees; nearly all the trees 
were stripped of their bark from the high 
branches to the ground ; the great trees look- 
ed like a flock of shorn sheep. We saw great 
piles of cork bundled up ready to put on the 
cars for shipment, and many cars loaded, 
I don't know how long it takes the bark to 
grow again on the trees; strange that the 
trees are not killed, by taking off their bark. 
We also saw thousands of olive trees laden 
Avith fruit. They must pay well to raise, as 
they seem to grow anywhere. We saw long 



92 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

trains of cars with loads of white beets go- 
ing to tlie sugar mills. 

After a very rough and dusty drive we 
arrived in Granada and put up at the Wash- 
ington Irving Hotel, a lovely place away up 
the mountain side ; our carriage drive up the 
mountain was lovely, b}^ a winding beautiful 
road, under great spreading shade trees. 

Next day we went to see the Alhambra, an 
old Moorish palace, built in the eleventh 
century. Some of the rooms and courts are 
beautiful, built of finest marble and stucco. 
One of the bathrooms was splendid, the 
floors, bath, pillars and walls were of 
mottled marble, the bath was large enough 
for six or more to use at once. In one 
corner of the room there was a perforated 
place like a shallow basin in the floor, where 
perfume was sprayed on the ladies after 
their bath. 

There was so much to see in this beauti- 
ful marble palace, it would take a whole 
week to go through every part of it. It had 
its horrors, too; in bygone days many a 
brave man Avas murdered there, and many 
died in those dark dungeons under the build- 
ing. 

We were taken by our guide to see the 
Cathedral, which is one of the sights of 
Granada. It is very rich in carved wood- 
work and beautiful altars, one in particu- 
lar, presented by King Ferdinand and 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 93 

Queen Isabella, in the lifteentli century; it 
must liave cost a great deal ; it seemed to be 
covered with. gold. 

There are two organs in the Cathedral, 
more than tw^o hundred years old ; they are 
simply splendid. 

We were taken to see the monastery, 
which w^as very grand. Inside the Chapel 
the doors were inlaid with tortoise shell and 
pearl and fancy marble^, the fronts of the 
altars were covered with the most beautiful 
mottled marble that I have ever seen; it 
was quarried from the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains. We also saw the crypt where 
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of 
Spain are buried; also Philip I and his 
wife, who was called "Crazj^ Jane". Just 
above the crypt the beautiful marble tombs 
of three Kings and their Queens are to be 
seen, carved out of the most beautiful white 
marble, their forms beautifully molded, and 
crowns on their heads; the pedestals sup- 
porting them were works of rare art. I can- 
not do justice in describing them. 

One afternoon we drove high up on the 
hills, to see some gypsies' houses ; they are 
cut in the solid rock of the mountain; we 
went inside one of them and found it very 
clean and comfortable; there were four or 
five rooms of very good size and nicely fur- 
nished; there were a number of girls and 
children, one dear little bov about three 



94 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

years old. I took him up in my arms, lie was 
so SAveet and clean ; his father played a man- 
dolin, and the dear little fellow danced and 
kept time with his hands. I was delighted 
with him and was sorry to say goodbye. 
They all treated us with great respect, 
especially after we gave them some money, 
but I noticed that a policeman walked be- 
side our carriage while we drove around to 
see the houses. A great many women ran 
after our carriage to sell things to us, and 
would have been very troublesome if the 
policeman had not been there. 

Next morning, coming do^vn the mountain 
side from the hotel, the drive was lovely and 
cool under the great shade trees; they met 
over our heads all the way do^^ni to the city. 
Two English ladies came down in the bus 
with us. They had been to Madrid and 
Seville, and had seen a bull fight. I quite 
envied them, for that was what we wanted 
to see. (Afterward I saw one in Mexico 
and I never want to see another.) 

We had lunch in Granada, and after look- 
ing through some of the fine stores and buy- 
ing some things, we took the train for Alge- 
ciras, where we took the steamer for Gibral- 
tar, The steamer was crowded with ^leople 
Avho had been picnicing in Algeciras. We 
were dust}^ and tired with our long ride in 
the train, and the cool sea breeze was so re- 
freshing ; we were about two hours crossing 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE . 95 

tlie straits, and were glad when we got back 
to tlie Bristol and liad a good rest. 

The people in Spain have little regard for 
Sunday. We saw men working with mules 
hauling loads of stuff, others ploughing in 
the fields, on Sunday the same as any other 
day. I am glad that I do not live in Spain. 
I saw very few Spanish women with hats 
on : they all seem to have beautiful hair and 
just wear lace thrown over their heads. We 
are getting ready today to go to Marseilles, 
so had to hurry and get some shopping done ; 
there are such lovely Maltese lace handker- 
chiefs in the stores here; I have not seen 
such nice ones anywhere else, so will treat 
myself before I go. 

We left Gribraltar yesterday by steamer 
Mongolian for Marseilles, where we hope to 
land tomorrow. The steamer stays there 
twenty-four hours, which will give us time 
to see some of the city. 

We landed about nine o'clock this morn- 
ing. After breakfast we went on shore and 
took a tramcar into the city, where we 
found fifteen letters and some papers from 
friends at home. My, it was good to hear 
from home ! 

While we were doing some shopping, there 
was a heavy shower which lasted nearly 
half an hour, then the sun shone out and 
the day was very fine. We went back to the 
steamer, had lunch, then hired a carriage 



96 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

and had a beautiful drive around the city, 
through lovely avenues, seeing elegant resi- 
dences of rich people. Then we drove a few 
miles along the sea shore, where we saw 
pretty bathing houses, and tea gardens, 
huge rocks, and lovely flowers, and shade 
trees; altogether a lovely drive. We 
went to see the Church of Notre-Dame de la 
Garde, which stands on a very high hill, 
where one has a fine view of the city and 
harbor. We went up from the base of the 
hill in a cog car, straight up about four hun- 
dred feet. At first I thought that I would 
get dizzy, but I did not mind after we got 
started. There were about twenty in the 
car. The church can be seen from nearly 
every part of the citj. It is quite near the 
harbor. On the steeple of the church there 
is an image of the Virgin in bronze, gilded 
with gold and it glitters in the sun, and can 
be seen for many miles. 

The church is large and built of gray 
stone, very beautiful outside, but not very 
nice inside. There are many small oil 
paintings on the walls, and other things, 
such as swords, little ships, etc., given by 
people who have had special blessings, from 
the Virgin in answer to their prayers. Aft- 
er driving till near six o'clock we paid our 
guide and returned to our steamer. 



jt 



our trip to europe 97 

Egypt 

The montli is flitting away, and tMs morn- 
ing we start for Port Said. A large number 
of passengers came on board, mostly Eng- 
lish, some are going to India, some to Pales- 
tine and a great many to Australia. There 
is nothing to do now but eat and sleep for 
a week. 

Sunday, Oct. 17th. A lovely day, had 
breakfast at half past eight; eleven o'clock 
we went to Divine Service ; the dining saloon 
was well filled; the service was very nice, 
and everyone joined in the singing. After 
service there was a dress parade of the crew. 
They were all East India men, they wore 
Avhite pants, long white coats, white tur- 
bans with a rose colored silk scarf wound 
around them, the ends hanging down to 
their shoulders; they looked just fine with 
their dark faces and bright eyes. 

There are many officers and their families 
going to Calcutta and Bombay. The nurses 
and children have their dinner at twelve 
o'clock in the dining saloon. I don't know 
where they get their other meals. 

We landed at Port Said the 19th at twelve 
o'clock, had lunch on the steamer, and left 
on a tender for the railway depot, where we 
arrived in about fifteen minutes. 

Cook's man met us at the wharf and took 
us to the train : we had a compartment to 



98 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

ourselves, so were very comfortable. The 
journey to Cairo, the city of the Caliphs, 
was very interesting. The first part was 
through a sandy plain, quite close to the 
Suez canal. We passed a large steamer in 
the canal at a distance. It seemed to be 
going just through the sand. After a while 
the train left the wide canal and ran in a 
different direction by a smaller one all the 
way to Cairo ; some places we saw beautiful 
water lilies, large blossoms, pink and blue, 
and white. 

We got to Cairo about six o'clock, and 
were met by a man from Cook's who took us 
to one of the best hotels. Shepherd's. It 
looked like one you might read about in the 
Arabian Mghts. It was once a palace ; it is 
built somewhat square, in the centre there 
is a lovely garden with palms and beautiful 
vines, and flowers; the dining room, or part 
of it, opened into this garden; it was more 
like a wide veranda; it was very cool, and 
at night very pretty, with the stars shining 
overhead, and the air filled with the sweet 
scent of flowers. 

The waiters were dressed in long loose 
white trousers gathered around the anlcle, 
red shoes with pointed turned up toes, red 
fez caps, with black tassel hanging over one 
side, red short coats trimmed with gold 
braid, over a white blouse, which with their 
dark complexion, made them very interest- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 99 

ing to us, wlio had never seen such people. 
The ladies on the streets are all closely 
veiled, but in some of the carriages I caught 
sight through the Avindows, of elegantly at- 
tired and beautiful women, without veils. 

On the streets of Cairo, may be seen all 
manner of Oriental costumes. I never 
wearied looking at them. One day we visit- 
ed the Mosque of Kait-Bey, one of the most 
beautiful and richly decorated mosques in 
Cairo. At the door, an attendant put slip- 
pers over our boots, as no one is allowed to 
walk in off the street. 

The people who go in to worship wash 
their feet in the courtyard, where a fountain 
stands, with stone basins for their use. In- 
side the mosque, the floors were covered 
with thick soft carpet ; there were no seats, 
the worshippers stand or kneel on the floor. 
The windows were in the great dome, and 
were of stained glass and shed a beautiful 
soft light. The pulpit was very high from 
the floor, the rails and sides of the stair- 
way were inlaid with ebony and pearl, 
very costly and rich. 

The tombs of the Caliphs, or Kings, were 
our next attraction. These were built of 
stone and looked like small mosques, with 
high dome-shaped roofs, mth stained glass 
windows in the domes. The floors were car- 
peted with soft thick carpet, the monuments 
stand along the middle of the floor, and are 



100 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

about twenty feet high, and about ten feet 
long and perhaps six feet Avide, built of 
alabaster and gilded witli gold and colors. 
At each end of these tombs there is a high 
slab or pillar with the Egyptian cap on the 
top of it, if it is the tomb of a king ; if it is 
the tomb of a Queen there would be a crown. 
The rich people of the Mohammedans have 
their burial places roofed in, their dead are 
wrapped in linen when put in the grave ; they 
use no cof&ns. The poor have a stone cover- 
ing over their graves, somewhat like a pack- 
ing box with a high slab at each end. Some 
are made with a hollow post on the top to 
hold water and flowers. The cemeteries look 
hot, no trees nor any green thing: nothing 
but sand. We saw a Mohammedan funeral 
one day passing the hotel ; there were about 
fifty men with white turbans on their heads, 
long white gowns; they were singing some 
low chant, then four men came carrying a 
bier on their shoulders, with a body on it, 
covered with a green cloth, (their sacred 
color. ) Behind the bier some donkeys with 
women on their backs, covered with black 
shawls. I suppose those were members of 
the family ; behind those, many other people. 
Today we went with our guide, a handsome 
Egyptian, looking so spic and span in a 
white linen suit with red fez cap, his name 
was Hassan; we drove over the beautiful 
bridge which spans the Mle, near the city; 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 101 

the bridge seemed to be a very long one and 
very wide ; there was a draw in the middle of 
it, which was open when we happened along ; 
there were a great many vessels passing 
through ; it is opened for traffic, one hour in 
the morning and one in the afternoon, so 
Ave were told ; the bridge itself is a fine struc- 
ture; at each end there are pedestals sup- 
porting huge stone lions, one on either side. 

Our drive to the Pyramids was ten or 
twelve miles along a lovely shady road with 
trees meeting overhead all the way. The road 
was quite level all the way, that far, then 
we came near the hills, where some of the 
Pyramids stand; at the base of the hills we 
left the carriage and were provided with 
camels to ride up to the Pyramids, a dis- 
tance of about a mile. The road was quite 
steep from where the carriage stopped, and 
the day was too hot for us to walk, so we 
had the novelty of riding on camels. But 
I must say I was very glad when I got down 
from my high horse. The camel kneels down 
for his rider to mount ; to me it was an awful 
sensation, when he began to get on his feet, 
his back seemed a long way from the ground. 
I don't think people who ride much on 
camels, suffer from indigestion for they 
most certainly do get a great shaking up. 

Each of our camels had a driver walking 
beside him, but there were many others, 
boys and men, in our rear, running to beg 



102 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

from us when we got down; they were a 
perfect nuisance. Arriving at the top of 
the hill, we rode past the Pyramids, on to 
where the Sphinx stands. It is hewn out 
of the solid rock; it looks like an animal 
lying down, with paws stretched in front, 
and has a man's face. It is very ugly but 
still, it is wonderful; it was made some 
thousands of years B. C. After having our 
pictures taken, sitting on our camels, we dis- 
mounted and went down into the temple of 
the Sphinx, a place once used to embalm the 
dead before burial. The ancient burial 
place around the Sphinx is long ago covered 
up in the sand. 

The sand is ever drifting when the wind 
blows, just like our snow in storms, forming 
banks of great height. Beginning to feel 
tired and hungry, we had to again go 
through the ordeal of mounting our camels. 
We went to the Mena Hotel, and had a good 
dinner. Then, Mr. Simmonds and a friend 
went up to the Pyramid of Cheops. I wan- 
dered around the lovely gardens of the hotel, 
and looked at the beautiful shrubs and 
flowers. Then I walked up to the P^^ramid 
in time to see the folks coming down. Climb- 
ing up for about five hundred feet over great 
stones, made them very tired. The day was 
very hot. After we had rested a while we 
went down to our carriage and drove back 
to Cairo. The di'ive was lovely, through the 



I 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 103 

long avenue of trees, and there was a nice 
cool breeze blowing. We saw many queer 
sights as we drove along. We saw men 
driving flocks of goats home from the pas- 
ture to be milked like cows ; they were queer 
looking goats, brown in color and had long 
flapping ears, and odd looking faces. I al- 
ways thought that I could not drink goat^s 
milk, but since we have been travelling, 1 
have had to drink it. In Gibraltar they 
drive the goats from door to door, and milk 
as much as the people need from them ; that 
way at least they are sure of fresh milk. 
One morning we went for a walk in a park 
quite near the hotel. We saw many rare 
flowers, and such wonderful trees, sonie of 
the trees had long fruit hanging on boughs, 
that looked like vegetable marrow, squash ; 
others were loaded with fruit that looked 
like apples ; but they were hard as stones, 
somes of the climbing vines were co veered 
with beautiful flowers. I have never seen 
dates in any other countr^^ to compare with 
the Eg}^ptian dates, both in size and flavor ; 
they were served on the table just as they 
came off the tree, and were just ^ne. There 
were many funny things to see from the 
hotel veranda, such as venders of all kinds 
of beads and stuff. One fellow came along 
with a bag under his arm, and tipped out the 
contents on the side walk ; what was my sur- 
prise to see a mass of snakes, some began at 



104 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

once to coil themselves into a round mat 
with their heads in the centre, and raised 
something like a wee fan at each side of their 
heads; they just remained perfectly quiet, 
onl}^ kept their heads turning when the man 
was fixing the others. He had a small alli- 
gator around his neck, which he took off and 
made hold some of the snakes that were try- 
ing to slip away; of course, when he had 
trained them for a while he came with his 
cap for money. Another strange sight to 
me was that of the money changers, sitting 
on the sidewalk with tables full of money, 
which was very handy sometimes, when one 
wanted to change a note for small cash. 
Mathew, the disciple, was a mone}^ changer. 
Monday, Oct. 2Gth. We left Cairo this 
morning for Port Said, where we arrived in 
the afternoon and took another steamer for 
Jaffa. The night was warm, we stayed on 
deck till quite late. Tuesday morning we 
got to Jaffa about eight o'clock. After we 
had breakfast and had been looked at by 
the health officers, we went down the lad- 
ders on the side of the ship to a large row 
boat manned by six rowers and one to steer. 
Of all the harbors that I have ever seen, 
Jaffa takes the palm. Nothing but a mass 
of jagged rocks, which reach a mile from the 
shore ; the boats have to be guided very skil- 
fully through them ; in stormy weather there 
is no chance of landing, and the steamer has 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 105 

to lie off some time, we were told, for two 
weeks; so we were very fortunate to have 
a fine day for landing. It is rather odd that 
a port where steamers have been going for 
thousands of years, should have no wharves 
or at least a channel cut to allow vessels to 
get nearer the city; all merchandise and 
passengers have to be transferred to small 
boats to be landed. 

After landing we went to the hotel Jeru- 
salem, small but clean, and good fare. I 
noticed that the bedroom doors instead of 
being numbered had the names of the patri- 
archs on them. After resting and seeing 
about our trip, we hired a neAv guide. He 
brought a carriage and drove us around the 
city: a dirty place it was, with streets so 
narrow that it w^as with difficulty we could 
pass another team. We drove outside the 
city through beautiful orange and date 
groves, to the place where Peter brought 
Dorcas to life. We also saw her tomb, a 
very handsome one; afterwards we went 
to the house of Simon, the tanner, where St. 
Peter had his wonderful vision of the sheet 
let down from heaven (the 10th chapt.. Acts 
of the Apostles, 9th verse) . 

We went up a stone stairway on the side 
of the house to a flat roof. Nearly all the 
houses have flat roofs, with a wall about 
three feet higher than the roof, which gives 
a little shade sometime in the day. As I 



106 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

stood there, I wondered whicli corner St. 
Peter occupied, while waiting for the people 
down stairs to prepare something for him 
to eat. After dreaming a while, I picked 
some hyssop off the wall and went down to 
the yard. We had a drink of ice cold water, 
drawn from a very deep well, in a goat skin 
bag. We also saw in the yard a large stone 
trough, said to be the one Simon used for 
tanning his skins. It looked ancient enough 
to be the very one. 

Driving through the market, we saw 
heaps of grapes, dates, tomatoes, and other 
kinds of fruit we had never seen before. The 
Jaffa oranges are said to be the best in the 
world; they have a very green rind, and I 
thought they were unripe, but when they 
were cut we found them seedless, and so 
juicy and the flavor surpassed any that 1 
ever tasted. 

Most of the traffic is carried on with 
donkeys and mules, and camels, as the 
streets are too narrow for vehicles. The 
women nearly all were closely veiled. I 
wonder how they can wear thick veils in 
such a warm city. 

We went from Jaffa to Jerusalem by 
train, a distance of fifty-three miles. For 
half an hour or so, the route was through 
orange, lemon, pomegranate, and other 
fruit gardens; emerging from the gardens 
we came into the plain of Sharon. It ex- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 107 

tends from Jaffa to Carmel, and tlie Medi- 
terranean. It was celebrated for its fertil- 
ity and being suitable as pasture; beautiful 
flowers grow everywhere. 

It is interesting to remember tbat this 
has been the great thoroughfare to Jeru- 
salem in all ages; some of the cedar wood 
and other material for the temple were car- 
ried along this road. Prophets and apostles 
have passed across this flowery plain. We 
saw many places as we passed along, that 
are mentioned in the Bible, as Lydda, Kam- 
leh, Hazor, etc. Just at sunset we came in 
sight of Jerusalem; in a few more minutes 
we were at the station, amid the clamor of 
men wanting to carry our baggage; our 
guide had a carriage ready for us and in a 
few minutes we were off to the hotel, inside 
the walls. The hotel was just inside the 
Jaffa gate ; the street there is wide enough 
for carriages, all the other streets are very 
narrow, and some are terraced. We were 
met at the door of the hotel by smiling 
waiters and shown to our rooms. The 
hotel stands on Zion hill, with the tower of 
David just across the street; from the bal- 
cony outside our window, we could see the 
Mount of Olives, the Temple site, and from 
the roof we could see the whole city ; it is a 
large city, and is surrounded by high hills, 
^*As the hills stand round about Jerusalem 



108 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

even so standeth tlie Lord round about Ms 
people." Psalm 125. 

It seemed strange to wake up next morn- 
ing and find ourselves in Jerusalem. After 
breakfast we were taken to see Calvary, the 
place where the Lord was crucified. The 
place is now covered by a large church, (if 
it is the very place, which is doubtful. ) 

However, first we entered a large paved 
courtyard, thence into a place of four chap- 
els, one for the Greeks, one for the Latins, 
one for the Armenians, and one for the 
Copts. As we entered the Church of the 
Holy Sepulchre, we first saw the Unction 
Stone, a long table of marble, where the 
Lord' s body was prepared for burial. Fur- 
ther along was the tomb, with an altar built 
over it, and enclosed by high walls with 
roof, and curtained door; lamps burn con- 
tinually on the altar, and people are going 
in to pray all the time. Beside the door is 
part of the stone the Angels rolled away 
from the Lord's grave. It is set in a block 
of marble to keep people from breaking 
pieces off it. I might say we were shown 
the whole stone in the house of Caiaphas aft- 
erwards. We were also shown the true one 
in a cathedral in Eome. 

We were shown also where the three 
crosses were set up, the stone on which the 
Lord sat, when he was set at naught and 
mocked; also the place where Mary and 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 109 

JoTin stood, wlieii Jesus said : "Woman, be- 
hold thy son ; son, behold thy Mother." 

We drove over to Bethlehem, which is 
about six miles from Jerusalem. On our 
way we saw the well where the Magi stop- 
ped to rest on their way to Bethlehem. Far- 
ther along we got out of the carriage, to see 
the tomb of Eachel. She was the favorite 
wife of Jacob. She died by the road side, 
on their journey from Bethel to Bethlehem. 
There is a small domed shrine built over her 
grave. 

Arriving at Bethlehem, we were taken 
into the church built over the manger. We 
were very fortunate in our time of visiting. 
The Latins were holding a service and we 
were permitted to be present. There were 
ten monks with broT\Ti garments, hoods over 
their heads, cord and tassel around their 
waists ; three priests in red cloaks with wide 
white lace trimmings, two altar boys, also 
dressed in red, each one carried a book and 
a lighted candle, and chanted the service 
from the chapel down a flight of stone steps 
to the manger, where they all fell on their 
knees and chanted their prayers, one priest 
swung the incense lamp around and filled 
the place with smoke. It was all very solemn. 
I was glad that we happened to be there at 
that time. After their devotions were over 
they all walked away in file, and we looked 
at the manger. It is cut out of the solid 



110 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

rock, the trough where the cattle used to eat 
will always be there, and the place close by 
where the Saviour was born. To us it 
seemed a very solemn place. 

We saw a Turkish soldier with his rifle on 
his arm; w^e asked why he was there, and 
were told that the Greeks, Latins and Copts, 
who all have a share in the Church of the 
Nativity, are continually quarreling, so 
there must be soldiers always on guard to 
keep order. The church steps in Jerusalem 
seem to be the place for beggars; they sit 
there all day long with tin cups in their 
hands, holding them out for money. 

The streets of Jerusalem are very narrow 
and paved with small stones, very tiresome 
to walk on. There are no carriages or 
teams on the streets, except just inside the 
Jaffa gate, where the ISTew Grand Hotel 
stands. Some of the streets are terraced, 
but the little donkeys trot up and down 
them, with their great loads on their backs, 
just as if they were level. 

In the old part of the city, the shops are 
rather odd, they have no windows, just a 
wide door that pushes up, and the buyer 
stands on the doorstep. Near the hotel 
there are a few very nice shops, where they 
sell elegant goods of all kinds. If a stranger 
is seen by the proprietor passing a store, he 
will send some one at once, to ask you to 
come in, just to see his goods. So once in, 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 111 

they make you buy. Some of the streets are 
very gloomy; as you walk along between 
high walls, perhaps a door will open in one 
of them, and you will get a glimpse of a 
courtyard with a fountain and lovely palms 
and flowers. The houses have no windows 
low down by the street ; there are a few up 
high. There are all kinds of Oriental cos- 
tumes worn in Jerusalem, some of them 
very rich looking. 

One morning we arose very early, our 
guide came with a carriage and three horses 
to take us down to Jericho. The morning 
was lovely and not too warm; after passing 
out of the city a short distance, we stopped 
and went into the Church of the Yirgiji 
Mary; we went down a long wide flight of 
stone steps, and were shown the tomb of 
Joseph; do^m. more steps we came into a 
chapel. At one side was the tomb of Mary 
with an altar built over it ; although it was 
very early in the morning, the chapel was 
filled with pilgrims who had come a great 
distance, to worship. After their prayers, 
they had the most beautiful singing I ever 
listened to, but being in a foreign tongue, I 
could not understand the words. 

Outside on the steps there was a row of 
lepers, begging, some holding up theii* 
hands, with no fingers, some with part of 
their feet off, and all with frightfully scar- 
red faces, and sore eyes, a most shocking 



112 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

sight. They beseech one in the most heart- 
rending voices for alms. A little farther 
on we came to the garden of Gethsemane, 
and saw the place where Christ prayed in 
agony, just before Judas and the rabble 
came upon him, and the place where the dis- 
ciples fell asleep while the Lord prayed. 
Close by the Kedron, in the valley of Jeho- 
shaphat, we saw Absalom's pillar ; also the 
tombs of Zechariah, and St. James. 

Going down to Jericho, some of the hills 
were so steep that w^e had to hold fast to the 
carriage to keep from being thrown out. 
After a long zigzag drive, we came to the 
Apostles' well, a spring of excellent water, 
with a nice stone roof over it, to keep the 
water clean. We got out of the carriage, 
and had a drink of it. A few miles farther 
on we stopped at the Inn of the Good Samar- 
itan; had a drink of lemonade and bought 
some post cards; as we drove farther along 
we saw the cave of Elijah, where he was fed 
by ravens, when he fled from Ahab and 
Jezebel. 

At one place we saw a shepherd with a 
great flock of sheep ; they were drinking at a 
pool, which was built around with stone, a 
space of about fifty feet square. 

The sheep went doT\ni a path over the 
bank of the pool and drank, a long line of 
them; as they finished they walked out at 
a low place and others came in, all in the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 113 

most perfect order. Another shepherd was 
putting his sheep into their fold ; he walked 
on, and the whole great flock followed him 
and as close together as they could walk. 
Some places by the roadside there would be 
spaces cut in the overhanging rocks, for 
Aveary folks to rest in out of the fierce rays 
of the sun, which must be a great comfort, as 
there are no trees in that wilderness of 
rocks. After many sharp turns, and steep 
hills, we arrived at Jericho, which once was 
called the city of palm trees, now for the 
most part only a few mounds and ruins re- 
main of proud Jericho. There are a few 
buildings near the ancient site of Jericho 
and close to the spring of bitter water, which 
Elisha healed and made sweet, were some 
luxuriant gardens, with lovely palm trees, 
and fruit; the name of the place is called 
Kiha. A few houses and a small hotel make 
up all the buildings to be seen. The hotel 
was very clean and the people who kept it 
very nice. 

I shall never forget the beautiful moon- 
light at Jericho, so clear, we could see al- 
most as well as in the daytime. There were 
some lovely trees in the courtyard of the 
hotel, one in particular called jessamine ; the 
leaves looked like wax, and the blossoms 
like white stars ; thev are beautiful in the 
moonlight. From the hotel Bellevue, we 
drove about ten miles to the Dead Sea. The 



114 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

road was good, but some places sandy, 
whicli was very tiresome for the horses, 
(none of the best. ) They were yoked, three 
abreast, the middle one had a hard time of 
it, from the heat of the other two, but there 
was no let-up from the driver. 

The Dead Sea is surrounded by high 
mountains on three sides, which seem to 
rise from its brink. They are the mount- 
ains of Gilead and Moab. On one side the 
river Jordan empties its waters into the 
Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is twenty five 
hundred feet lower than Jerusalem. It 
looked very pretty and solemn, too, there 
among the high hills. Some say that Sodom 
and Gomorrah are sunk beneath the Dead 
Sea. The Jordan flows swiftly into the 
sea, and the fishes that come down in the 
waters die at once ; we saw many lying dead 
on the shore. 

As we walked along the shore the wind 
was blowing quite a bit, which made a beau- 
tiful surf, as it broke in white foam on the 
shore. I dipped my hands in it, and found 
it was soft and soapy. The water tasted 
very salt and bitter. All the bushes near 
the shore were covered with salt. 

We next drove about two miles to the 
Jordan, to the place where St. John bap- 
tized the Lord Jesus. It is in a bend of the 
river, the water was deep and clear, with 
lovely tamarisk trees drooping over the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 115 

banks. From tlie Dead Sea to Jericho is 
one vast sandy plain with a few thorn trees 
here and there. We saw some other visitors 
by the river, but did not meet them again. 

The day was far spent when we arrived 
back to Jericho. After a good supper and 
sitting out for a while under the vines and 
flowers, we went to our room. Looking 
dov^no. from the window we could see a great 
number of camels in a yard nearby, resting 
for the night. Very early in the morning 
they were off, with their heavy loads, for 
many long miles. It was nice to hear their 
little bells tinkling in the night. In the 
morning we started back to Jerusalem; 
every step of the way was interesting. In 
fancy I could see the walls of Jericho falling 
to the ground as Joshua and his men sur- 
rounded it, and the plain where the five 
kings hid from Joshua, in a cave. (And 
Joshua said, roll great stones upon the 
mouth of the cave and set men by it for to 
keep them. — Joshua 10th Chapt., 15 verse. ) 

On the way we stopped at Bethany and 
saw where Martha and Mary and Lazarus 
had lived, part of the house is still stand- 
ing; all the houses there are built of 
stone, that is the reason they have lasted so 
long. 

Then we went to the tomb of Lazarus, 
down ten or twelve steps ; saw the place cut 
in the wall, where the body had lain. It 



116 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

made me feel very solemn to stand there, 
where the Lord had stood, and I thought 
of the joy of those sisters when their brother 
came forth, not even sick, but quite well. 

Next day we went to the place where the 
once beautiful Temple of Solomon stood. 
Now a Mohammedan mosque stands in its 
place. Upon going into the mosque we had 
to have other shoes put on over our own, as 
no one is allowed to enter in shoes worn on 
the street. 

The interior of the mosque is somewhat 
gloomy. It has two cloisters separated by 
an octagonal course of piers and columns. 
Within this again is another circle of four 
piers and twelve Corinthian columns, which 
support the great dome. The thirty-six 
stained glass windows are of great beauty, 
and date from the fifteenth century. The 
arches are covered with glass mosaics, over 
which are inscribed portions of the Koran. 
The dome is ninety-eight feet high and 
seventy-five feet in diameter. 

The sacred rock is immediately beneath 
the dome. It is a bare unhewn rock about 
sixty feet long and forty-five feet wide, a 
high iron grille incloses the dome of the 
rock. It is here that Abraham offered up 
his son Isaac, and also where the Ark of 
the Covenant stood. We went down steps 
into a cave below the rock where we were 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 117 

shown the praying places of King David 
and King Solomon. 

Under the temple site we saw King Sol- 
omon's stables, very vast indeed. It must 
have been a wonderful sight, when horses 
and chariots filled them. 

We next went to the pool of Bethesda, 
where the angel came down and troubled the 
water, and whoever first went down was 
healed of his sickness. 

We were shown the tomb of David, which 
was a large structure of stone, covered by 
green satin tapestry, richly embroidered 
with gold. Adjoining the tomb, is the 
Chamber of the Last Supper; it is a large 
room about fifty feet long by thirty wide, 
with a vaulted roof. If it reall}^ is the very 
room where our Saviour met with his dis- 
ciples, it is indeed a holy place. The place 
where the table stood and where the Lord 
sat is pointed out to visitors, even if it is all 
supposition. Still it gives one a feeling of 
reverence to be in that room. 

We went to see the Jews' wailing place, 
by the wall of the temple, a part of the orig.- 
inal wall of the temple; it seemed to be a 
court about a hundred yards long and per- 
haps ten wide, the walls on each side. 
There the Jews assemble every Friday aft- 
ernoon, to pray for the restoration of the 
temple. They read portions of the Psalms, 
then they sway their bodies back and forth 



118 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

and weep, and kiss tliat part of tlie wall 
which formerly belonged to the temple. 
They seemed so sincere in their devotions, 
that it didn't seem right to even smile. 
Some of the Eabbis did look rather queer, 
the}^ wore long crimson velvet gowns, velvet 
caps and little corkscrew curls by their ears. 

Another day we went to see the tombs of 
the Kings of Jerusalem, out of the city a few 
miles. Arriving there we went down a very 
wide flight of steps, thirty in all, cut in the 
solid rock; then into a large courtyard on 
one side of which was a row of tanks cut in 
the rock for catching the rain water; the 
water was used for washing and preparing 
the dead for burial. Another court opening 
out of the first one, had many doors open- 
ing into passages where the tombs were. 

These passages had shelves cut along the 
sides for receiving the coffins, which are 
placed inside and then a stone slab put in 
front and sealed. Some of those vaults 
would hold several bodies. 

One day we drove to the Mount of Olives, 
about two miles from the city, a very wind- 
ing road, to make it easier of ascent. On 
the top of the mount there is a Greek church. 
I thinii it is called the Church of the Ascen- 
sion. In a pretty court, set round with pil- 
lars, we saw on the walls, the Lord's Prayer, 
in twenty-six different languages ; we walk- 
ed down the mount quite a distance, and 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 119 

stood under the olive trees, and I wondered 
if the Lord had stood in that very same 
place ; and I thought how tired he was, some 
of those hot days, when he went there for a 
rest; and I felt that I must be dreaming, 
just to think of me^ standing on the Mount 
of Olives ! 

The olive trees, most of them, were so 
bent and full of lumps, and looked so old 
that really they may be some of those which 
were there when Jesus fed the thousands of 
hungry people. 

I was told that the olive tree never dies, 
that when one part dies a new shoot comes 
up. 

Sunday morning we went to Divine Serv- 
ice in Christ Church on Zion hill. We were 
sorry to leave Jerusalem so soon, for there 
is so much to see ; but as we wanted to get 
home by Christmas, we had to hurry, and 
see all that we possibly could. We went to 
Jaffa by train, from there by steamer to 
Haifa, and went to the hotel Carmel. The 
town is built at the base of Mount Carmel, 
on the bay of Acre. Next day we drove up 
the steep side of Carmel, a thousand feet 
above the sea, to see the cave of Elijah. 

It is not a very large cave, but would hold 
about twenty people. There is now a Eoman 
Catholic church built over the top of it, and 
close by a monastery, where some thirty 



120 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

monks live. They looked hale and hearty, 
and were very nice in showing ns the sights. 

On another part of Carmel, we saw where 
Elijah offered up the sacrifice, when the fire 
came doAvni from heaven and consumed it; 
and where he prayed for rain, and the little 
cloud appeared as big as a man's hand, but 
which soon spread over the whole sky, and 
rain poured down in torrents. 

We went down on the sandy shore of the 
Bay of Acre, beside the lovely Mediterra- 
nean, where we saw heaps of pretty sea 
shells. Some were dark blue, from which 
dye is made. As we journeyed from Carmel 
to Nazareth, we crossed the river Kishon, 
where Elijah slew the prophets of Baal. 
We passed along by the plain of Jezreel, 
where Jael's tent stood when she drove the 
nail of the tent into the temple of Sisera 
while he slept. 

The drive to ISTazareth was very interest- 
ing. We had three horses and a nice car- 
riage and a good driver. The distance from 
Mount Carmel to ^N^azareth is about thirty 
miles. The road was real good; it wound 
around the sides of mountains and along 
beautiful level plains, which stretched as 
far as the eye could reach. 

We met many caravans of camels and 
donkeys carrying loads of grain to Haifa; 
along the roadside were thousands of love- 
ly purple crocuses, and other beautiful 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 121 

flowers ; we passed by tlie village of Skunem, 
where Elisha brought the little boy to life ; 
also Nain, where Jesus and his disciples 
met the funeral of the young man, the only 
son of his mother, and she a widow. Jesus 
came and touched the bier and they that 
bare him stood still, and he said: ^^Young 
man, I say unto thee, arise ; and he that was 
dead sat up." What joy for that sorrowing 
mother ! 

Arriving in Nazareth we put up at the 
hotel Germania, had lunch and went out to 
see the city. It is a very pretty city, sur- 
rounded by high hills. We were shown 
Avhere the holy family had lived, and the 
room where the angel appeared to Mary. 
The house is cut in the solid rock, like many 
others ; the rooms were not large but seemed 
very comfortable. Most of those sacred 
places are built over with churches. There 
seemed to be only one place in Nazareth to 
get water. I think it is a spring; it ijs 
roofed over and has a spout or tap; all the 
women of the town go there for water, with 
large jugs ; some carry them on their heads, 
and some on their shoulders. I asked one 
of the women to let me have a drink ; she at 
once gave me a pint of the water which was 
ice cold and excellent; there were a great 
many women and children getting water, 
the men don't carry water. In fancy I 
could see the gentle Mary walking along 



122 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

with her jug on her shoulder and the little 
Christ child, toddling along beside her, just 
as others did today. 

After spending a few days in Nazareth, 
we went on to Tiberias, some few miles 
from Nazareth. We came to Cana of Gali- 
lee. We were taken into a Greek church, 
where we were shown two large water pots, 
said to be two of the six which were used 
at the marriage feast where Jesus turned 
the water into wine. They may have been 
of the very ones. One was in good condi- 
tion, the other one was very much cracked; 
they seemed to be cut out of solid stone and 
looked to be very heavy ; however they were 
well worth seeing, and I am glad that we 
did see them. 

Cana of today is a very small dusty poor 
looking place. The drive on to Tiberias 
was very enjoyable, about twenty miles up 
the sides of high mountains, around many 
sharp turns, then down, doT\Ti, again by 
many zigzag ways, until we came near the 
sea of Galilee. 

Coming from Nazareth we saw the Mount 
where Christ was transfigured before his 
disciples, and Mount Gilboa, where King 
Saul and his son Jonathan fell in battle; 
on another hill pointed out to us we saw 
the tomb of Jonah, the prophet. 

Quite near the sea of Galilee we saw the 
Mount of Beatitudes, where Christ gave the 



J 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 123 

Sermon on the Mount. It is quite by the 
roadside ; our carriage stopped for us to see 
the place ; it is a rather low hill, with two 
peaks, called the Horns of Hattin. 

As we gazed on this grassy hill, in fancy I 
saw the five thousand sitting around on the 
grass and stones, being fed by the loving 
Master. The mount is not far from the lake 
of Grennesaret, a lovely place to go to get 
cool air. 

Just below the plain where the mount 
stands, over a steep ridge, we suddenly 
came to the lake, or sea of Gralilee, looking 
like a drop of dew in the green hills. It 
looked small among the high hills, but it 
is not very small ; its length is twelve miles 
and breath six or over. The Jordan flows 
into it at one end and out at the other, so 
the water is good coming down from icy 
Hermon. We went to the hotel Tiberias, 
where we were treated very kindly. 

We hired a boat and men to row us over 
the lake to Capernaum, once a beautiful 
city, now only a few heaps of stones. It is 
sad to think of all the cities which once 
stood around the sea of Galilee, there is 
only Tiberias left, and it is the most filthy 
place I have ever seen. There were a great 
many camels in the yard by the hotel. I 
went to look at them, they are sad looking 
animals, the best of them, but I did not 
wonder that they looked sad; some were 



124 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

thin and tired looking, one in particular I 
felt sorry for, it must have had its halter 
put on when it was quite young, and left on, 
for the buckles were embedded in its flesh. 
The S. P. C. could get good work in, if there 
was such a society there. 

One morning very early, about four 
o'clock, we arose to go to Damascus. I 
looked out of my window over the lake but 
could see nothing but black darkness. 

By the time we had dressed and had 
breakfast, daylight had come, and we went 
down to the shore to the boat which was to 
take us to the foot of the lake to a place 
called Samach. We had about eight miles 
to go but had a large boat with a very large 
sail, and beside six men to row; there was 
very little wind so the men had to row the 
whole way. 

As we went down the sea of Galilee many 
places of interest were pointed out by our 
guide. 

One place, the country of the Oadar- 
enes, where the man came from among the 
tombs, possessed with devils exceedingly 
fierce. Jesus cast out the devils and sent 
them into the herd of swine, which ran down 
the steep bank and perished in the water. 

As we went down the lake, or sea, the 
sun arose over the mountains and sent a 
long shimmer of brightness across the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 125 

water. I tliouglit I had never seen such a 
beautiful sunrise; I shall never forget it. 

Far away on the shore we could see long 
caravans of camels, trudging along with 
their heavy burdens, their drivers behind 
riding on donkeys. 

After leaving the boat we went through 
the village of Samach, a miserable and 
wretched place, the houses nearly all made 
of mud ; we had to wait for the train quite a 
while and I was glad when it came along. 

The ride in the train was very enjoyable, 
through beautiful scenery, high mountains 
and deep valleys; by lovely oleanders with 
their great bunches of bloom, castor-oil 
trees, wild sugar cane, etc., we went through 
miles and miles of them. 

The high mountains sometimes right by 
the window of the car, full of dents and 
seams, made a beautiful sight, and looked 
like so many grand castles ; part of the way 
Was over a sandy desert. 

We arrived in Damascus late in the after- 
noon. I was very tired and after having a 
good dinner, I went soon to bed. The hotel 
Victoria is a very good hotel, beautifully 
clean, cuisine excellent ; they have the sweet- 
est and largest grapes there that I ever saw; 
some were nearly as large as crab apples. 
Our guide took us to see a Mohammedan 
mosque, where John the Baptist is buried. 
I could not help wondering if they had got 



126 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

Ms head from Herod, or if lie was bnried 
without it. 

The tomb stood in the middle of the floor ; 
it was a very costly tomb of marble and 
gold, very beautiful to see. This mosque 
of which I speak is called the Great Mosque 
and is said to be built on the site of the 
Temple of Eimmon, the god worshipped by 
the Assyrians spoken of in 2, Kings, in the 
Bible. We went up in one of the minarets, 
160 steps, where we had a splendid view of 
the city and the lovely gardens, a perfect 
fairy land, elegant dwellings with marble 
courts, fountains and palms and gorgeous 
flowers, and all around the bristling min- 
arets of mosques. 

In the Great Mosque the pulpit, which is 
very high, having as many as fifteen steps, 
is cased in, and has a door at the bottom 
step; all the casing is inlaid mth tortoise 
shell and mother of pearl, very beautiful. 
On either side of the pulpit there is a half 
circular place in the wall about six feet wide 
and perhaps twelve feet high, inlaid also 
with tortoise shell and pearl. These are 
called prayer places ; the sheiks pray there ; 
the people kneel on the floor. The floor is 
covered with rich thick carpet, so soft that 
3^ou cannot hear a footstep. We had slip- 
pers put on over out boots before we were 
allowed to go in. The people who go in to 
worship must first wash their feet at the 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 127 

fountain in the courtyard. We were taken 
to see tlie tomb of Saladin, the Saracen 
general who conquered the crusaders. We 
visited a large manufacturing place where 
all manner of beautiful gold, silver, and 
brass work was done. The manager told us 
he employed ^Ye hundred hands, a great 
many were boys and girls not more than 
twelve years old. They are very clever at 
this work but it did seem too bad to see 
these children working w^ho should be in 
school. When the master's back was turn- 
ed every hand was stretched out to us for 
backsheesh. 

From the factory we went through the 
street, that is called Straight, spoken of in 
the Act of the Apostles, and saw the place 
where St. Paul was let down over the wall 
in a basket. We were also in the house of 
Ananias where the scales fell off St. Paul's 
eyes. 

Some of the bazaars are very fine; they 
are in streets roofed over with glass ; some 
of the stores are very large ; we were always 
met at the shop doors by some man who 
would invite us very politely to come in just 
to see their goods, not to huy^ ah no! 

But once you go in and they show heaps 
of lovely things, it is hard to get out without 
buying. 

One very fine store we went into, we were 
handed chairs to sit down; then a dainty 



128 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

tray of coffee was brought to us, served in 
such bewitching little cups. After we had 
sipped our coffee, we were shown the most 
beautiful silk goods that I had even seen, 
and some Turkish carpets, which had come 
from the Sultan's palace; so soft and love- 
ly, they looked too good to walk on, and 
would have made beautiful pictures if they 
had been framed. 

One of the sights was a grand oriental 
house. We drove along a narrow street 
which had a very high wall on one side. Our 
guide opened a door in the wall and took us 
into a beautiful palace. First there was a 
courtyard, or room without a roof; there 
was a fountain and a great basin full of 
pretty fish, some red colored, some gold; 
lovely palms and flow^ers, a perch with a 
large handsome parrot sitting on it, the 
long feathers ijn its tail reaching the 
ground. I said: "Polly, can you talk?" but 
she only blinl^ed her eyes at me and wonder- 
ed who I was. I asked the man who showed 
us through if the parrot could talk, he said, 
"Oh, yes," but she speaks in Arabic, so that 
was why she didn't knoAV what I said. She 
didn't understand English! The house it- 
self was something to see; divans, chairs, 
tables, stands, all inlaid with tortoise shell 
and pearl, were of the most elegant make ; 
the rugs on the floors, like softest velvet. I 
cannot enumerate the lovely things that 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 129 

were there, nor do justice in describing 
them. I could only gaze at their magni- 
licence and gasp. I began to think that this 
must be Aladdin's palace sure enough. Some 
of these rooms had an open side next this 
place where the fountain was. I thought 
how fine and restful to lie off on one of these 
divans, with a nice book, and the music of 
the fountain along side. The river Abana 
was quite near the hotel Victoria, and Phar- 
par farther away. These rivers branch off 
into many streams and irrigate the land for 
miles and miles ; they have their origin in a 
cave, from whence the water rushes with 
great force, dashing over the rocks. These 
are the rivers which Naaman the leper 
thought better than all the waters of Israel, 
2d Kings y.12. 

Today we are leaving Damascus to go to 
Ba'albek. I wish we could have stayed 
longer in Damascus, there was so much to 
see; the luxuriant gardens, luscious fruit 
and beautiful flowers, were a perfect de- 
light. We reached Ba'albek about three 
o'clock in the afternoon after a very inter- 
esting ride in the train, through rugged and 
grand scenery, great mountains and verd- 
ant plains. Ba'albek is the Heliopolis of the 
Greeks and Eomans, celebrated for its sun 
worship in the Temple of the sun god, which 
was one of the wonders of the world, a build- 
ing which at one time covered thirteen 



130 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

acres. It must liave been a magnifleent 
structure when it was complete. It was 
two hundred years in building. The great 
Temple of the Sun is now a mass of ruins. 
Entering the ruins we came into a large 
court seventy yards wide by eighty long. A 
handsome portal led from this into the 
great court about a hundred and fifty yards 
long and by a hundred and twenty-five yards 
wide. 

Originally there were seventeen columns 
on either side of the Temple, and ten at 
either end, fifty-four in all, the building en- 
closed by them being two hundred and nine- 
ty feet long, by a hundred and sixty broad : 
now only five columns remain standing, 
they are about seventy five feet in height 
and six feet in diameter, all around there 
are masses of broken columns. 

All the masonry of the outer wall is pro- 
digious in its dimensions, but the most won- 
derful is the western wall, where are three 
stones of enormous size ; one stone measures 
sixty-four feet long, another sixty-three feet 
eight inches, and a third sixty-three feet. 
Each is thirteen feet high. They are placed 
in the wall at a height of twenty feet from 
the ground. How they were hauled and 
raised, is a problem no one can answer, the 
largest one is said to weigh something like 
ten hundred tons. 

Some of the marble cornices had exquisite 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 131 

carving on them, and strange to say tlie 
great pillars and blocks were just as white 
and beautiful as if they were just cut. 
After leaving the ruins we passed by the 
quarries from w^hence the great stones used 
for the platform of the Temple of the Sun 
were quarried. There is one gigantic stone 
still lying where it was left by the workmen 
nearly seventeen hundred years ago. It is 
68 feet long, 14 high, 14 broad. It is es- 
timated that it weighs nearly thirteen hun- 
dred tons. 

Before reaching Ba'albek on the top of a 
high hill, we saw the tomb of Abel ; it is 30 
feet long. We stayed all night at the Grand 
Hotel at Ba'albek ; in the morning we had to 
drive quite a distance to the train; on our 
way to Beyrout, the journey was about sixty 
miles, but it was very interesting ; the great- 
er part was a climb up the steep mountains 
of Lebanon. Nearly all the way we passed 
by beautiful vineyards, and saw many vil- 
lages down on the plains below us; up on 
the mountains we saw many shepherds with 
their flocks of sheep and goats, some places 
we saw camel and donkey caravans, wend- 
ing their way along the mountain track, 
with their heavy burdens ; their fierce look- 
ing drivers, with turbaned heads and long 
flowing garments, hurrying them along; 
they are very cruel to their beasts, loading 



132 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

tlieni heavily and beating them unmerci- 
fully. 

At one place we saw the tomb of Noah, in 
a village called Kerak Nuh. The tomb 
measures betw^een fift}^ and sixty yards in 
length, the men at that time must have been 
giants. 

The road from Ba'albek to Beyrout was 
winding and leads by a series of zigzags to 
the summit of Lebanon, and then descends 
by another series of zigzags to Beyrout. 
When the summit of Lebanon is reached the 
scenery is delightful, fifty-six hundred feet 
above the sea level. Below may be seen the 
promontory of Beyrout, with its white 
houses, in the midst of beautiful green trees, 
while beyond is the blue Mediterranean. 

As we descend toward Beyrout, every 
turn of the road gives glimpses of luxurious 
villas, beautiful gardens and orchards. Ar- 
riving we went to the Hotel d' Orient, a very 
nice hotel, with a sitting out parlor on the 
roof, where we had a fine view of the city 
and of the harbor, and shipping. Our drago- 
man brought a carriage and took us to see 
the sights. We saw some palatial res- 
idences, eight of them belonged to one man. 
It so happened that we met the gentleman 
and his wife and son in Damascus, they sat 
at table with us and seemed very fine people, 
(real flesh and blood,) they seemed quite 
pleased to meet us again. 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 133 

The city of Bej^rout is built on the side of 
one of the mountains of Lebanon. The 
streets around the base are very nice, but 
the ones that go up are very steep. I used 
to wonder how they ever hauled loads up. 
The trees, which are many, are beautiful 
and the flowers marvelous. In the garden 
of the hotel, I picked the most delicious 
oranges, ripe and sweet as honey, there were 
many kinds of fruit there. 

Beyrout is a very ancient city dating far- 
ther back than the fifteenth century b. c. 
After spending a few pleasant days, we had 
to take the steamer for Constantinople. We 
went on board in the morning, the day was 
rather stormy looking, and by night quite 
a gale sprang up. The steamer tossed and 
pitched at a great rate, often the propeller 
would come right out of the water. I think 
it was the worst storm that I was ever out 
in. Next morning the gale was pretty well 
spent, and the sea looked a beautiful blue. 

We passed by many islands as we neared 
Constantinople. I must mention a great 
rock which we saw standing alone, it was 
cone shaped, reaching a great height, it 
looked like a piece of masonry, it was 
shaped so evenly, and standing there in the 
sea, it looked like a lighthouse. 



134 our trip to europe 

Turkey 

Late one afternoon we arrived in Con- 
stantinople, tlie day was lovely. As we 
steamed up the long harbor, we had a splen- 
did view of the great city. Built on high 
hills, it show off to advantage its beautiful 
mosques, and elegant buildings. 

In the morning we drove over to Stamboul 
over the Galata bridge, across the Golden 
Horn, a very long and very broad bridge, a 
place where all manner of oriental costumes 
are to be seen, and all manner of peoples. 
As we were wandering around we went into 
the mosque of St. Sophia, a very rich and 
elegant one. As usual we had to put slip- 
pers on over our boots, else we could not 
enter. Later we went through some of the 
bazaars. The goods displayed for sale were 
the most beautiful that we had yet seen. 
One of the bazaars is in what was once a 
convent. It must have been an enormous 
building, for there are streets running 
through, all under cover. 

The men in the shops were very polite and 
nice to us and didn't clamor for us to buy, 
as they did in some other cities. There are 
no lady attendants in the shops, the men do 
all the selling. 

We were told that there were 250,000 
dogs in Constantinople, and I think 
very likely it was true, for they were every- 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 135 

where as many as eight in a group. They 
are kept to eat up all filth about the streets. 
They are an tigly lot, mostly black and 
white, short hair and short ears. After a 
few delightful days spent in this beautiful 
city, we are steaming off once more for Mar- 
seilles. This has been a lovely warm day, 
we walked the deck this evening and saw 
the sun go down, a red ball into the smooth 
water, and the purple mists on the far off 
mountains made a beautiful sight, the sky 
streaked with crimson and gold. 

Today we are anchored in the harbor of 
Smyrna, will be here till tomorrow night, 
and will then sail for Athens. On our way 
to Athens the sea was rather rough, some of 
the passengers were sick and there were few 
at the tables, but we enjoyed every meal. We 
were only half a day at Athens, so did not 
have time to see a great deal of the city, 
but saw Mars Hill, where St. Paul stood and 
preached, and some other places of interest, 
bought some bunches of lovely violets, which 
kept fresh for a long time. 

'Nor, 23. This morning we passed through 
the straits of Messina. We passed quite close 
to the shore, where the earthquake destroy- 
ed the city a few years ago. We could see 
great chasms rent in the rocks and ground, 
houses lying in heaps, a scene of dreadful 
devastation. Still the people are building 
the city up again. 



136 OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 

As we sailed along we had a good view ol 
Mount Aetna. The steam was pouring out 
of its top and sides, and rising up in the air 
in clouds, a dreadful looking volcano; yet 
there are a number of towns quite near it. 

Nov. 24. This morning was very fine and 
warm, but toward noon there was quite a 
squall which tossed the ship about a good 
deal and kept some of the passengers from 
luncheon. 

Early this morning we anchored in the 
bay of Naples, the wind had gone down and 
the sea was calm. I had another look at 
Vesuvius, smoking away as usual. The 
city of Naples looked so pretty, built around 
the bay with lovely green hills in the back- 
ground, dotted over with beautiful white 
stone homes and lovely gardens. 

Nov. 25. We are now on our way to Mar- 
seilles, which we will reach tonight, we are 
passing many beautiful islands, the air is 
clear and warm. 

We arrived in Marseilles safely and re- 
ceived a heap of letters. We were glad to 
hear from home, and to know that they were 
all well. After getting our traps together 
and saying goodbye to friends, we took the 
train for Monte Carlo, about five hours in 
the train. 

The cit}^ of Monte Carlo is certainly a 
beautiful city, built on high hills facing the 
lovely blue Mediterranean. The residences 



OUR TRIP TO EUROPE 137 

are splendid and the gardens a mass of 
fruit and flowers, an ideal spot. 

We went into tlie Casino to see the people 
gambling, the long tables were all occupied, 
and the heaps of gold were a sight to be re- 
membered. We saw one young man lose 
four thousand dollars. He got up from the 
table with a very white face and went out, 
another man put one gold piece down and 
won one more, he seemed quite pleased and 
went away smiling. 

After we had walked through the differ- 
ent rooms and watched the play, we went to 
a hotel and had tea. After resting for a 
while we took the train for Paris. Next 
day we left for Liverpool, where our passage 
was booked, in the Hesperian, a very fine 
boat. We had a suite of rooms and bath, 
very elegant. We met some very nice 
people on board, which made the homeward 
voyage very pleasant. 

We arrived safely home, glad to see every- 
body, and they to see us, and I thought the 
day I got home was the very best day of all. 
Home is where the heart is. 



